Universities in the UK and China have announced a series of new partnerships, expanding the opportunities for students to learn overseas.

David Willetts, the Universities Minister, revealed the new initiatives during the biggest ever trade mission to China this week.

Globally the education market is worth $4.5 trillion (£2.75 trillion) annually. The government is supporting UK universities to expand their exports through the International Education Strategy, launched earlier this year.
“In China, and around the globe, the market for education is growing rapidly. We are determined that our world-class universities should build on the UK’s position as the education partner of choice for China,” David Willetts said.

These new partnerships are good for education and good for growth. They will ensure China and the UK have well-educated and trained young people, equipped to meet the opportunities and challenges of a globalised world, according to David Willetts.

The education partnerships announced include:

The University of Nottingham investing £25 million in a Marine Economy Research and Technology Transfer Centre, as well as £27 million in the development of its Ningbo campus. It is also signing a multi-million pound agreement with Guangdong University of Finance and Guangdong Provincial Government to establish the Guangdong-Nottingham Advanced Finance Institute, which will train up to 2,000 Chinese financial specialists each year

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) investing £80 million in its new South Campus in Suzhou

The UK’s Open University signing a new agreement with Chongqing Open University and an agreement with Peking University School of Telemedical Education

Cardiff University establishing a £6.5 million Cancer Research Centre in collaboration with Beijing‘s Capital Medical University

Lancaster University and Guangdong Provincial Office of Science & Technology are to sign an agreement outlining future collaborations, including the recently announced China Catalyst programme to boost trade between UK and Chinese businesses

theBritish Council’s launching the Generation UK CEO initiative, further expanding its Generation UK scheme. The new project aims to increase the number of UK students going to China to 15,000 over the next 3 years – currently around 4,200 UK students study in China every year.