UK schools lead international bid, but challenges remain

With Chinese legislation permitting Sino-foreign joint ventures in education almost a decade old, British universities now have the largest share of the market.

Three pioneering Sino-foreign joint ventures by UK schools - the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University at Suzhou and the Sino-British College in Shanghai - now have more than 10,000 students.

"They were and still are in the frontline of helping to internationalize Chinese students studying in English in China in line with the spirit and letter of the 2003 law," said Professor Ian Gow, principal of SBC and founding provost of UNNC in Ningbo.