China's transnational higher education sector has just hit a landmark number. As of 31 May 2026, the Ministry of Education's official platform records 392 approved Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions across 27 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions — a figure that would have seemed extraordinary even a decade ago, and one that carries significant implications for UK universities, policy-makers and anyone with a stake in the future of international higher education.
At TNE Institute, we now have received the most comprehensive bilingual English-Chinese directory of these institutions available outside China's own regulatory database — data that will form the foundation of the Branch Campus Finder, our platform for students, institutions and policy-makers navigating the global landscape of transnational higher education. This article presents our findings , sets them in context, and draws out what we believe are the most important trends for the sector.
What the Numbers Tell Us
The headline figure of 392 institutions represents every Sino-foreign cooperative education institution (中外合作办学机构) approved by China's Ministry of Education under the "Regulations on Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education" and their implementing measures. This covers institutions established with universities from across the world — not only the UK — including partners from the United States, Germany, Russia, France, Australia, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
The geographic distribution tells its own story.
| Province | Institutions | Share |
| Jiangsu 江苏 | 48 | 12.2% |
| Shandong 山东 | 31 | 7.9% |
| Zhejiang 浙江 | 30 | 7.7% |
| Guangdong 广东 | 28 | 7.1% |
| Henan 河南 | 27 | 6.9% |
| Hubei 湖北 | 20 | 5.1% |
| Liaoning 辽宁 | 19 | 4.8% |
| Shaanxi 陕西 | 18 | 4.6% |
| Sichuan 四川 | 18 | 4.6% |
| Hainan 海南 | 17 | 4.3% |
| Hebei 河北 | 17 | 4.3% |
| Beijing 北京 | 17 | 4.3% |
| Shanghai 上海 | 21 | 5.4% |
| Fujian 福建 | 12 | 3.1% |
| Heilongjiang 黑龙江 | 12 | 3.1% |
| Jilin 吉林 | 9 | 2.3% |
| Guangxi 广西 | 8 | 2.0% |
| Chongqing 重庆 | 7 | 1.8% |
| Jiangxi 江西 | 6 | 1.5% |
| Yunnan 云南 | 6 | 1.5% |
| Guizhou 贵州 | 6 | 1.5% |
| Tianjin 天津 | 5 | 1.3% |
| Hunan 湖南 | 5 | 1.3% |
| Anhui 安徽 | 2 | 0.5% |
| Shanxi 山西 | 1 | 0.3% |
| Gansu 甘肃 | 1 | 0.3% |
| Inner Mongolia 内蒙古 | 1 | 0.3% |
The concentration in coastal and central provinces — Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Guangdong — reflects the historic geography of China's internationalisation effort, closely tied to economic development zones, established higher education hubs and proximity to international transport links. But the presence of 27 institutions in Henan, 20 in Hubei and 18 each in Shaanxi and Sichuan signals that Sino-foreign cooperative education has emphatically moved inland. This is a sector that has outgrown its coastal origins.
The other striking geographic story is Hainan, with 17 institutions — a remarkable concentration for a province of its size, driven almost entirely by central government policy designating Hainan as a Free Trade Port and explicitly using international higher education as a lever for attracting talent and investment. Several of the institutions in Hainan are satellites of major universities based elsewhere — Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Northeast Forestry University — reflecting a model in which established Sino-foreign partnerships are being replicated into a new policy zone.
The UK's Position in This Landscape
The United Kingdom remains the largest single-country partner in China's Sino-foreign cooperative education system, accounting for approximately one-fifth of all approved institutions and joint programmes at bachelor's level and above.
The list includes the two independent Sino-foreign universities that the UK has established in China — institutions that stand apart from all others in terms of scale, autonomy and academic standing:
西交利物浦大学 / Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (Suzhou, Jiangsu) — a partnership between the University of Liverpool and Xi'an Jiaotong University, established in 2006. With approximately 25,000 students and over 100 degree programmes, XJTLU is the largest Sino-foreign cooperative university in China. Its International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) alone offers 19 programmes across business, management, finance and accounting.
宁波诺丁汉大学 / University of Nottingham Ningbo China (Ningbo, Zhejiang) — the first Sino-foreign university in China, established in 2004 in partnership with the Zhejiang Wanli Education Group. Approximately 8,000 students; over 23 postgraduate programmes; new undergraduate programmes in Financial Technology, Management Science and Big Data Management launching in 2026.
(Find out all the branch campus provision in China, please see:https://branchcampusfinder.com/#china)
Beyond these two flagship institutions, UK universities appear across the full breadth of the list — from Russell Group research universities to specialist arts, technology and health institutions. A selection of notable UK-partnered joint institutes from the full list:
- 南京信息工程大学雷丁学院 / NUIST Reading Academy — University of Reading × Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (Jiangsu)
- 暨南大学伯明翰大学联合学院 / Jinan University-University of Birmingham Joint Institute — University of Birmingham × Jinan University (Guangdong)
- 重庆医科大学莱斯特大学联合学院 / CQMU-University of Leicester Joint Institute — University of Leicester × Chongqing Medical University (Chongqing) — the only Sino-foreign cooperative institute in central and western China offering clinical medicine
- 中南林业科技大学班戈学院 / Bangor College — Bangor University × Central South University of Forestry and Technology (Hunan)
- 电子科技大学格拉斯哥学院 / Glasgow College, UESTC — University of Glasgow × University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Sichuan)
- 东北财经大学萨里国际学院 / Surrey International Institute — University of Surrey × Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (Liaoning) — the first Sino-UK business-focused joint institute, established 2007
- 大连海事大学思克莱德海事工程学院 / Strathclyde Maritime Institute of Engineering — University of Strathclyde × Dalian Maritime University (Liaoning)
- 武汉大学杜伦大学联合学院 / Wuhan University Durham University Joint Institute— Durham University × Wuhan University (Hubei)
- 西南交通大学-利兹学院 / SWJTU-Leeds Joint School— University of Leeds × Southwest Jiaotong University (Sichuan)
- 河北大学-中央兰开夏传媒与创意学院 / HBU-UCLan School of Media, Communication and Creative Industries — University of Central Lancashire × Hebei University (Hebei)
What Is Driving the Growth?
Three forces have combined to produce this expansion, and understanding them is essential for any UK university currently considering or developing a China TNE strategy.
First, Chinese government policy is actively encouraging Sino-foreign cooperative education as a mechanism for importing academic quality, curriculum innovation and international credibility — particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), health sciences, and increasingly in data science, artificial intelligence and digital economy disciplines. The Ministry of Education's approval processes, while rigorous, have become more systematic and predictable, reducing the regulatory uncertainty that deterred some UK universities in the early 2010s.
Second, the demand side has fundamentally changed. The dramatic post-pandemic decline in Chinese students travelling overseas for undergraduate study has redirected a significant proportion of that demand toward high-quality Sino-foreign programmes delivered in China. A degree from a joint institute that carries both a Chinese university award (critical for domestic employment and civil service eligibility) and a recognised UK degree represents, for many Chinese families, a compelling value proposition at a fraction of the cost of overseas study.
This shift in demand is one of the primary reasons TNE Institute developed the **Branch Campus Finder** — a platform designed to help students make informed, evidence-based decisions about Sino-foreign cooperative programmes, and to give institutions reliable data on how students are choosing between them. As the on-the-ground delivery of UK higher education in China grows, so does the need for independent, transparent information.
Third, the approval of 122 new partnerships by the Ministry of Education in December 2025 — followed by a further 50 UK partnerships in the May 2026 approval round — signals that this is not a mature or saturated market. The pipeline is still actively filling, and the geographic expansion into provinces such as Shanxi, Guizhou and Gansu indicates that the central government's ambition extends well beyond the established coastal clusters.
What This Means for the Sector
For UK universities not yet active in China TNE, or those with limited partnerships, the message from this data is clear: the window for establishing high-quality, well-positioned Sino-foreign cooperative institutions is open, but it is not unlimited. Chinese universities with strong track records in international cooperation — the host institutions that make the best JEI partners — are already engaged with one or more UK partners. The most sought-after partners in the most strategically valuable locations will not remain available indefinitely.
For UK universities already operating joint institutes, the data points to a different challenge: differentiation. With 392 institutions on the MoE platform and a pipeline of new approvals still flowing, the question for established programmes is no longer simply whether to be present in China, but how to build academic quality, student outcome data and institutional reputation that justifies the investment and genuinely serves students. This is where the Branch Campus Finder becomes a strategic tool as well as a public resource. Institutions with strong graduate employment rates, high student satisfaction and transparent quality assurance arrangements will be able to demonstrate that — verifiably and publicly — to prospective students comparing their options. Those without that data will find it increasingly difficult to compete on anything other than brand name.
TNE Institute's Role — and the Branch Campus Finder
TNE Institute was established to support the development of high-quality transnational education partnerships — providing the advisory, analytical and capacity-building services that institutions on both sides of these partnerships need to succeed.
If your institution is considering a China JEI — whether at the preliminary exploration stage or preparing a business case and MoE submission — we would be glad to discuss how TNE Institute can support you.
Contact: [admin@tneinstitute.org]
Access the Full Directory and the Branch Campus Finder
The full list of all 392 institutions — searchable by province, partner country and subject area — is available to TNE Institute members and partners, and will be publicly accessible through the **Branch Campus Finder** shortly.
To request early access to the full directory, or discuss how TNE Institute can support your China TNE strategy, contact us at [admin@tneinstitute.org]