UK is setting records for its educational ties with China

The UK has set at least three European records for its educational ties with China.

The UK has set at least three European records for its educational ties with China.[File Photo: VCG]

Britain is the biggest European destination for Chinese students. This year, nearly 170,000 Chinese students came to the UK, compared to 120,000 seven years ago.

Britain is home to the largest number of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, increasing from 13 and 57 respectively seven years ago to 29 and 140 today.

Britain is leading all European countries in joint research and studies with world-class Chinese universities. Recently Peking University has set up separately with University of Cambridge and University of Edinburgh cultural and area studies centres in each other's campus.

In 2013 almost 23% of all full-time master students in England where Chinese. In comparison, roughly 26% who were from England, reported the Daily Mail. Students from China were most dominant in the fields of Maths and Media studies and less so in social studies. The cost in 2017 of a master’s degree for an overseas student is around £15,000.

Nottingham University is the first British University to appoint a Chinese Chancellor and to set up a joint campus in China. It is home to more than 2,000 Chinese students. The university is considered a leader in the study of contemporary China.

At a recent event at Nottingham University, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, said that “the progress of China-UK educational exchanges is not only evidenced by numbers. More significantly, it is reflected in the growing quality of cooperation.”

This is evidenced by the High Level People to People Exchange, which was set up in 2012. This mechanism has become one of the three major pillars underpinning the development of China-UK relations. The idea is to help strengthen bilateral exchanges on cultural and people-to-people ties. It ensures stronger policy and institutional support.