Going global: the changing strategy of internationalisation of education in China

Abstract

This article investigates the global promotion of China's model in the area of education. An examination of China's internationalisation policy shows that there have been shifts in priorities in the last three decades. In accordance with China's wider socio-economic context, the focus of internationalisation of education was revised from awareness of internationalisation in the 1980s, improvement of the quality of education and the desire to be world class in the 1990s to the adoption of a high profile ‘going global’ strategy in the new millennium. This article focuses on the recent changes in internationalisation strategies to investigate the use of cultural power and promotion of the Chinese model globally. Two cases, including Confucius Institutions and educational aid to Africa, are analysed to map out the process of expanding China's international influence through education. Nevertheless, the Chinese model is a nebulous concept. This article concludes by discussing whether and how Chinese practices are different from the Western model in the process of internationalisation of education.