The Action Plan is formulated for the implementation of the All-round Pilot Projects for Further Opening-up in Beijing's Service Industry approved by the State Council [Guohan (2019)] No. 16]. It is aimed at further reform and opening up in the education sector with pilot policies and projects in the areas of basic, vocational, and higher education, and international cooperation in education. The implementation of these projects will reflect the strategic positioning and overall plan of Beijing as the nation's capital, and respond to the city's educational needs with expanded access to education, as part of the initiative to further open the service sector.
I. Expanding Access to International Education
1. To ensure easier access, 11 new international schools will be opened in areas with a high concentration of global talent, such as Zhongguancun Science City, Huairou Science Park, Beijing Future Science Park,Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area,and Haidian and Chaoyang Districts. (Time of Completion: 2019-2021; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Commission, and district governments concerned)
2. Assessment will be made to determine the necessary level of international cooperation on high school education; and support will continue to be provided to existing projects for new schools in the aforementioned areas, which may offer important lessons-learned for similar projects and spur further international cooperation in this regard.(Time of Completion: 2019-2021; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Commission, and district governments concerned)
3. In response to the need identified by the district governments to improve the business environment, foreign student enrollments will be increased at existing schools that cater to foreign students, and the number of schools that accept foreign students will be increased by 50, bringing the total to over 330 in all 16 districts. (Time of Completion: 2019-2021; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, Municipal Public Security Bureau, and Municipal Foreign Affairs Office)
4. Guidance and more support will be provided to existing international schools, so as to create a favorable environment for international education and meet the schooling needs of children of workers recruited internationally and nationally. (Time of completion: before the end of December 2019; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, and district governments)
II. Developing Education Demonstration Projects
1. Demonstration projects that showcase cutting-edge training will be rolled out in universities and colleges in Beijing, with a focus on broad-ranging and substantive cooperation in education, especially operating joint cutting-edge academic programs, with world-renowned institutions of higher education across the globe. Support will be provided to summer programs at Tsinghua University, Peking University, Renmin University of China and Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics so as to attract more international students during the summer. More advanced training will be organized in Beijing to serve the needs of socio-economic development by taking full advantage of the available top-notch professors and educational resources in the city's leading universities. Municipal universities will continue to receive support for “study abroad” programs; they are also encouraged to strengthen cooperation with foreign institutions of higher learning, such as Politecnico di Milano, University College Dublin, Cardiff University, University of the Arts London, among others, in an effort to improve teaching and research through joint programs. (Time of completion: before the end of December 2020; responsible organization: Municipal Education Commission)
2. Training for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will be stepped up with more opportunities made available to professionals and skilled personnel, including education managers and technology experts, from those countries to study in Beijing. The city's 40 educational institutions are designated BRI training bases and are required to develop appropriate courses for this purpose. (Time of completion: 2019-2021; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, Municipal Finance Bureau, and selected educational institutions)
3. International cooperation on vocational education will be strengthened with the rollout of a number of pilot projects. Vocational schools are encouraged to import foreign vocational education resources as appropriate, draw on world-class training models and test and assessment standards, and align vocational education with international best practices, bearing in mind Beijing's specific needs. Germany's dual system of vocational education provides an important source of inspiration; cooperation with Germany will be expanded in vocational training in vehicle maintenance, logistics management, network operations and intelligent manufacturing. Also highly relevant is the TAFE model of Australia; and we can benefit from strengthened cooperation with the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) in the fields of pre-school education, accounting and finance, event planning and other modern services. It is essential to strengthen cooperation between educational institutions and enterprises and increase involvement from the business sector in vocational education to create greater synergy between the two. (Time of completion: 2019- 2021; Responsible Organization: Municipal Education Commission)
4. International cooperation in education will continue to be a focus of attention in the Beijing municipal center. Existing educational institutions in the municipal center are encouraged to bring in global talent and educational resources as appropriate. Letters of intent for cooperation and cooperation agreements are expected to be signed by the end of 2019 and the end of 2020 respectively. (Time of completion: 2019-2021; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, and Municipal Development and Reform Commission)
5. Primary and secondary schools in Beijing are encouraged to develop exchange programs with their foreign counterparts to benefit from international cooperation that helps bring in needed educational resources. Professional development of teachers is essential for developing innovative thinking and international awareness and improving teaching quality and effectiveness. (Time of completion: end of 2021, or depending on specific circumstances; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, and district governments concerned)
6. Cooperation with internationally renowned institutions of higher education will be encouraged, including in the form of joint programs, to bring in quality educational resources to improve talent building, including in response to the need to prepare for and organize the Winter Olympics in 2022 in particular, and the imperatives of regional socio-economic development in general, especially efforts to reposition Beijing as the national political and cultural center and a center for international exchanges and for scientific and technological innovation. (Time of completion: end of 2021, or depending on specific circumstances; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Commission, and Municipal Housing and Construction Commission)
III. Further Opening-up in Education
1. A number of internationally renowned professional and vocational certification services will be made available in Beijing. Cooperation with foreign vocational education institutions, international training evaluation organizations or trade associations will be encouraged in response to labor market dynamics and by taking into account of the special strengths of the schools concerned. The possibility of cooperation in establishing an international vocational certification center or international education examination center will be explored. The availability of internationally renowned professional/vocational certification services will contribute to greater openness in advanced vocational education, and help vocational instructors raise international awareness and develop expertise. (Time of completion: end of 2021, or depending on specific circumstances; responsible organization: Municipal Education Commission)
2. International cooperation on vocational education includes projects for global and interdisciplinary talent development. It is not only about bringing in foreign educational resources; it is also about sharing China's expertise with others. Vocational colleges will benefit from government support if they open and operate schools or programs abroad, such as Beijing Polytechnic College's China-Zambia Polytechnic Institute (Zambia) and the Beijing Information Technology College's Institute of Applied Technology in Egypt. Support will also be given to other cooperation projects, such as cooperation between Beijing Vocational College of Finance and Trade and the State University of New York (US) and the University of Northampton (UK), between Beijing Vocational College of Agriculture and institutes of applied technology or community colleges in the US and Canada, and between secondary or post-secondary vocational schools such as the Beijing Business School and the Beijing Institute of Economics and Management and the Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia). The possibility of creating Sino-Australian international colleges at the Beijing Business School and the Beijing Institute of Economics and Management will be explored. (Time of completion: end of 2021, or depending on specific circumstances; responsible organization: Municipal Education Commission)
IV. Delegating Administrative Review and Approval Authority
As access to schools for children of foreign nationals is important to a favorable business environment, it is necessary to make it easier to open such schools. The authority to approve any application for such a school is hereby delegated on a pilot basis to the education departments at the district level. Regional coordination will also be strengthened in this connection, so as to better ensure that education serves the needs of socio-economic development. (Time of completion: before the end of June 2019; Responsible Organizations: Municipal Education Commission, and district governments)
翻译：北京第二外国语学院 张颖 蔡力坚
