Higher Education and Research

In 2019, some 30 million students were enrolled in bachelor programs at the country’s 2668 universities and technical colleges. The technical colleges absorbed 12.8 million students, and 2.86 million students followed a master degree or doctor course at a university. Compared to Western nations, Chinese students prefer science and engineering as the field of study more than law, politics, economy, and humanities. According to statistics of the Ministry of Education, as of 2018 more than 5.9 million Chinese students had studied abroad, mostly in the USA and Western Europe. During the so-called “211 program”, 112 universities were selected to take the leading places for education in the 21 century. This was followed by an “action plan for education rejuvenation for the 21st century”, which ranked an additional 39 universities on top of the 211 plan. Private equity funds, both Chinese and international, play an increasingly important role in the financing of start-ups and companies.