Page 312 - 2023 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
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3 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
vocational school graduates should enjoy international cooperation, including to establish
equal career opportunities. It also encourages Sino-foreign cooperative education projects and
enterprise participation in vocational education expand exchange platforms. These provisions
and calls for enterprises to consider technical also encourage Chinese vocational education
skills an important recruitment prerequisite when schools to go abroad alongside the globalization
hiring personnel. According to the revision, based of Chinese companies. The vocational education
on the need for industrial layouts, China should reforms come within the context of significant
vigorously develop new vocational education changes to China’s education system. Many
majors for advanced manufacturing. It also plans of these reforms have limited the space for
to optimize the use of education expenditure private and foreign investment in education –
to ensure the budget for the development but not for vocational education. The perceived
of vocational education. China has built the low quality of vocational education in China
world's largest vocational education system, presents opportunities for foreign investors to
with 11,300 vocational schools enrolling 30.88 position themselves in the market as providers
million students and churning out 10 million of high-quality, reputable education. Additionally,
graduates annually. But the system remains foreign vocational education providers can
underdeveloped and is yet to meet the demands establish industry connections to ensure their
of the society. The country has introduced a education is relevant, practical, and leads to
series of policy measures over the years, laying immediate employment opportunities. While
a solid foundation for enacting the amended the government has continued to encourage
Vocational Education Law. Equating vocational foreign investment in vocational education, the
education with general education means the risks associated with investing in the industry
former will receive the same recognition (GCTN, cannot be disregarded. The goals of the Common
China Revises). The Law eliminates the distinction Prosperity policy to make education more
between secondary schools and secondary affordable, less commodified, and with stronger
vocational schools, while encouraging traditional government control have already reduced the
secondary schools to offer courses on vocational space for foreign investment in other education
education subjects. Before the new Law, middle industries, and it is possible that these could
school students could enroll in either traditional apply to vocational education in the future (Koty).
secondary schools or vocational secondary
schools depending on the quality of their exam Higher Education
scores. As a result, students with poor grades
often went to vocational secondary schools, A total of 240 million Chinese people have
feeding into the social perception that students received higher education as a result of the
should avoid such schools. Policymakers hope country's historic strides in tertiary education
that these provisions will improve the social development over the past decade. Wu Yan,
perception of vocational education, which is director of the Ministry of Education's department
generally viewed as inferior to general education. of higher education, said 44.3 million students
Vocational education’s poor reputation in China are attending colleges and universities in China,
is a contributor to talent shortages in technical making it home to the largest higher education
vocations, as many students avoid pursuing system in the world. The tertiary education gross
vocational education because of social norms enrollment rate reached 57.8% in 2021, up 27.8
and expectations. The Law states that China percentage points from 2012. On average, people
should have a modern vocational education who have recently joined the labor force have
system basically in place by 2025, with improved received over 13.8 years of education, Wu said.
conditions and quality. According to Dezen Shira China has a number of world-class universities,
& Associates’ China Briefing, by 2035, China and the nation's higher education development in
should have a world-leading vocational education general is also among the best internationally. The
system, and the social status of technical and nation has the largest and best higher education
skilled workers should be greatly improved. The for engineering in the world, nurturing millions
Law also contains multiple provisions encouraging
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vocational school graduates should enjoy international cooperation, including to establish
equal career opportunities. It also encourages Sino-foreign cooperative education projects and
enterprise participation in vocational education expand exchange platforms. These provisions
and calls for enterprises to consider technical also encourage Chinese vocational education
skills an important recruitment prerequisite when schools to go abroad alongside the globalization
hiring personnel. According to the revision, based of Chinese companies. The vocational education
on the need for industrial layouts, China should reforms come within the context of significant
vigorously develop new vocational education changes to China’s education system. Many
majors for advanced manufacturing. It also plans of these reforms have limited the space for
to optimize the use of education expenditure private and foreign investment in education –
to ensure the budget for the development but not for vocational education. The perceived
of vocational education. China has built the low quality of vocational education in China
world's largest vocational education system, presents opportunities for foreign investors to
with 11,300 vocational schools enrolling 30.88 position themselves in the market as providers
million students and churning out 10 million of high-quality, reputable education. Additionally,
graduates annually. But the system remains foreign vocational education providers can
underdeveloped and is yet to meet the demands establish industry connections to ensure their
of the society. The country has introduced a education is relevant, practical, and leads to
series of policy measures over the years, laying immediate employment opportunities. While
a solid foundation for enacting the amended the government has continued to encourage
Vocational Education Law. Equating vocational foreign investment in vocational education, the
education with general education means the risks associated with investing in the industry
former will receive the same recognition (GCTN, cannot be disregarded. The goals of the Common
China Revises). The Law eliminates the distinction Prosperity policy to make education more
between secondary schools and secondary affordable, less commodified, and with stronger
vocational schools, while encouraging traditional government control have already reduced the
secondary schools to offer courses on vocational space for foreign investment in other education
education subjects. Before the new Law, middle industries, and it is possible that these could
school students could enroll in either traditional apply to vocational education in the future (Koty).
secondary schools or vocational secondary
schools depending on the quality of their exam Higher Education
scores. As a result, students with poor grades
often went to vocational secondary schools, A total of 240 million Chinese people have
feeding into the social perception that students received higher education as a result of the
should avoid such schools. Policymakers hope country's historic strides in tertiary education
that these provisions will improve the social development over the past decade. Wu Yan,
perception of vocational education, which is director of the Ministry of Education's department
generally viewed as inferior to general education. of higher education, said 44.3 million students
Vocational education’s poor reputation in China are attending colleges and universities in China,
is a contributor to talent shortages in technical making it home to the largest higher education
vocations, as many students avoid pursuing system in the world. The tertiary education gross
vocational education because of social norms enrollment rate reached 57.8% in 2021, up 27.8
and expectations. The Law states that China percentage points from 2012. On average, people
should have a modern vocational education who have recently joined the labor force have
system basically in place by 2025, with improved received over 13.8 years of education, Wu said.
conditions and quality. According to Dezen Shira China has a number of world-class universities,
& Associates’ China Briefing, by 2035, China and the nation's higher education development in
should have a world-leading vocational education general is also among the best internationally. The
system, and the social status of technical and nation has the largest and best higher education
skilled workers should be greatly improved. The for engineering in the world, nurturing millions
Law also contains multiple provisions encouraging
312
