The UK and China have set out a bold new agenda for education collaboration, following the 2014 UK-China Education Summit and High Level People to People Dialogue in Beijing on April 23.

Altogether, 15 education initiatives were announced, launching new education collaborations between the UK and China in areas including academic research, student exchange and language learning. The Summit culminated in a signing at the High Level People to People Dialogue, which sets out the new ambitions for UK-China collaboration in higher, vocational and school education over the next three years.

China’s Vice Minister for Education, Hao Ping, and the UK’s Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, co-chaired the seventh annual UK-China Education Summit.

David Willetts, MP said:

“The People to People Dialogue is one of the most important forms of cooperation between the UK and China. Education is at its heart.

Accompanying me is a delegation representing British education in all its diversity. At the education summit we discussed the importance of greater two way student mobility, enhanced research collaboration, raising education standards and encouraging of both Chinese and English language learning. This sets a framework for strengthening our existing education collaboration.”

Minister Willetts witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on a new piece of UK-wide research in to the learning of Chinese language in the UK. The findings of the research will inform the future policy and investment strategy needed to increase the number of Chinese language learners in the UK, to meet the Prime Minister’s target of 400,000 learners by 2020.

It was also announced that the UK is working towards sending 80,000 students to study or gain work experience in China by 2020, as part of the Generation UK campaign. The government believes it is fundamentally important that more young people from the UK have opportunities to gain greater exposure to, and understanding of China, putting them in a more competitive position in the job market internationally, but also in the UK, with the growing trend of inward investment from China and with the increasing number of Chinese tourists visiting the UK.

In addition, with the growing numbers of Chinese students choosing the UK as their preferred international study destination, Minister Willetts sent a clear message that there is no cap on the number of Chinese students coming to the UK or gaining graduate work experience.

The Education Summit came a day after the 2014 UK-China Student Forum. Organised by the British Council and Tsinghua University in association with the China-Britain Youth Association (CBYA), the Forum brought together young people from the UK and China to discuss critical issues affecting the futures of young people from both countries.

Lauren Petit was selected as one of eight students to represent the UK at the Student Forum. The University of Southampton student said:

“Taking part in the Student Forum was a great opportunity to further develop my knowledge of this fast changing country and its people through exchanging views with our Chinese counterparts on issues I find very interesting. It was an invaluable experience that helped broaden my views on the issues discussed… We know our views are being heard. The forum provided a platform to present our views to Ministers and influential university leaders from both countries”