The China Monitor
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The China Monitor The China Monitor March 2006 1 The China Monitor Contents Page Editorial 3 Dr. Martyn J. Davies, Director, Centre for Chinese Studies Letter from China 4 “Made in China”: Higher Education in the PRC Thomas Orr, Beijing Representative, Centre for Chinese Studies Policy Watch 7 China and Africa: Transcending “Threat or Boon” Dr. Liu Haifang, Researcher, Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Business Briefs 10 A round-up of China news from the past month China & Africa 17 News briefs highlighting Chinese relations with Africa The China Forum 20 Recent events Contact Us 20 A Publication of: The Centre for Chinese Studies Faculty of Arts, University of Stellenbosch 2 The China Monitor Editorial 2006 is a significant year in South Africa-China relations. In January, the Government of the People’s Republic of China mapped its strategic relationship with the continent by releasing its White Paper on Africa. Mid-year, Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to pay his first official visit to South Africa further expanding upon the bilateral relationship and giving impetus to a stalled free trade agreement between the two countries. In the last quarter, the Forum on China Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing to coincide with the Pretoria and Beijing’s Bi-national Commission. These are the macro enablers of government-to-government interaction. The challenge now is for business and society to face the challenge of engaging Chinese business on the continent whilst also seizing market opening opportunities in China. China’s economic entry into Africa has been rapid and has taken many observers, both African and foreign, by surprise. China’s engagement of Africa has undoubtedly raised the profile of Africa’s resource-endowed economies, in particular those possessing energy assets. How African states will respond to aligning themselves to the new Chinese economic reality is still uncertain. But during 2006 both South African public and private sectors will hear and learn a great deal more of China’s activities on the continent. The Centre for Chinese Studies will be active in evaluating all these events and providing commentary and analytical coverage of the burgeoning China-Africa relationship. Dr Martyn J. Davies Director, Centre for Chinese Studies 3 The China Monitor Letter from China “Made in China”: Higher Education in the PRC By Tom Orr Every year, the Chinese Government invites around 10,000 foreign students to study on full scholarship at its prestigious universities. These students, largely from developing countries, spend a year studying Chinese and then go on to complete their degrees in Chinese. While this foreign policy strategy is perhaps less widely known than China’s ‘concrete diplomacy’, the expansion of educational ties is arguably more effective in creating sustainable relationships. In November last year, South Africa’s Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, was in Beijing to speak at the Sino-African Education Ministers’ Forum. She also attended UNESCO’s Fifth High Level Group Meeting on Education for All. While Red China was successful in spreading primary education to the millions, Modern China has been making impressive strides in developing its higher education system into a world-class research and development factory. Minister Pandor was in Beijing to find out the story behind these achievements and to develop working relationships between South African and Chinese universities. The Minister was accompanied by Dr. Martyn Davies of CCS, and “…in 2006 there will Professor Walter Claassen, (Vice-rector) and Ms. Walbrugh-Parsadh be 110,000 foreign (International Office) both of the University of Stellenbosch. Mr. Elijah students in Chinese Ntuli and I, both recipients of the Chinese Government Scholarship, universities. Only a had the honour of joining the delegation on visits to some of Beijing’s handful are South prestigious universities. African.” Alongside the Minister’s Forum, the Minister held a bi- lateral meeting with her counter-part, Minister Zhou Ji of the PRC. Among other issues, the Ministers discussed the expansion of the student scholarship programme for South Africans to China; the promotion of the post- graduate studies for Chinese students to South Africa; and the expansion of the Centre of Chinese Studies (CCS) Project to SADC member countries. These issues need urgent, high-level promoting: in 2006 there will be 110,000 foreign students in Chinese universities. Only a handful are South African. 4 The China Monitor At first glance, South Africa and China are incomparable. China has 15 million students in around 2500 universities. There are more than 70 universities in Beijing alone. In contrast, South Africa only has 22 universities and polytechnics countrywide. However, South Africa and China are both developing countries struggling with similar educational issues: providing primary education for all; ensuring greater access to education for all income groups; overcoming the rural/urban divide; and maintaining standards with limited resources. With around 600,000 engineers graduating last year, China’s higher education system must be doing something right! Competition and elitism are inherent to maintaining excellence in China’s higher education system. Peking University and Tsinghua University, both regarded among the top universities in the world, allow entrance only to the very pinnacle of high-achievers in the national high-school leaver’s examinations. Last year Tsinghua admitted 70% of China’s brightest matriculants, with Peking University taking 20%. “China’s top Interestingly, over 70% of the 25,000 students at Tsinghua University universities are study for science-related degrees. This reflects the importance China flush with has placed in training the engineers that are building the cities, ports research-based and pipelines on which China’s phenomenal growth is based. funding.” China’s top universities are flush with research-based funding. 25% of Tsinghua’s funding comes from State grants, 40% from research, 30% from its publishing press and a mere 5% from student fees. South African universities are more reliant on state funding: state grants contributed around 50%, while students contribute 20%. With this funding stream, Chinese universities offer extensive financial assistance to students. Most funding is awarded on basis of the school-leaving National Examinations results, with 30% of all students receiving full scholarships. The prestige linked to China’s top institutions has played a large role in combating the ‘Brain Drain’ of students and professors. China’s rapid rise has presented new opportunities to the academic diaspora to return home from the Harvards and Princetons of the world. In a country of 1.3 billion people, a university degree can elevate one from peasantry to gentry. Or more pertinently, having a daughter at Beijing University can do more for your social status than winning the national lottery. This has lead to unimaginable 5 The China Monitor pressure on school children and it’s not uncommon for parents to start their only-child on rigorous academic preparations at the age of 6. Chinese universities are moving along two distinct trends. Firstly, universities are under pressure to expand capacity as degree-giving institutions, to cope with China’s phenomenal increase in demand for skilled labour. Secondly, highly focused departments within these universities are being targeted as specialized research institutes. For example, Beijing Normal University’s Psychology Department is ranked first in the country. It receives generous state grants, retains the best professors, and hence attracts the top achievers in the National Examinations. Despite obvious differences, Minister Zhou Ji and Minister “South Africans have Pandor face many of the same tough decisions. Minister Zhou Ji not yet fully grasped has chosen to leave the primary and secondary school system to the extent to which meet the largely political demands for broad-based education. the rise of China will The higher education system in China is very specifically make an impact on targeted as the national R&D engine that will drive China’s future their daily lives.” economic growth. It is well-funded, elitist, competitive, merit- based and while in theory it is available to all, in reality most students at China’s top universities are from wealthy families in the cities. Minister Pandor faces strong pressure to make South African universities more accessible to all South Africans. Some argue that policies to affect this aim will make universities less competitive and lead to an erosion of their research capabilities. While the ranking of universities, the almost suicidal pressure on high school students, and the concentration of resources on the top ranked universities is what many would like to see implemented in South Africa, the Minister will have been made aware of those policies which are effectively building human capital in a fellow developing country. While institutional interactions currently remain limited between South Africa and China, the potential of China’s universities has not been lost on some of the more enterprising South African universities. The visit was a rewarding opportunity for the University of Stellenbosch to identify and unlock strategic relationships in China. The university has established relationships with important institutions, including Beijing University, Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy for Social Science. In a week accompanying the Minister, we were able to meet Chinese Education Minister Zhou Ji in the Great Hall of the People, were wined and dined at prestigious universities, and listened to numerous 6 The China Monitor Party cadres rattle off the figures of China’s thousands of universities, hundreds of thousands of schools, millions of graduates, billions of books and trillions spent on education. As the delegation wondered across Tiananmen Square, under the proud Chinese flags, past the tomb of Chairman Mao and up to the gates of the ancient Forbidden City, these figures of the millions and billions must have seemed both fascinating and disturbing.