written by Li Min / translated by Gao Qianqian

CAEXPO: Achieving Su cess in Education Services

written by Li Min / translated by Gao Qianqian

As the position of educational earning in GNP continues to rise,international education service trade begins to take a prominent role. The CAEXPO, as an important platform to promote trade in services, will set up a bridge for international education cooperation among the “10+1” and even“10+6” countries.

At the 11th CAEXPO, the Sino-Canadian International College of Guangxi University, together with Central Queensland University and an Australian jet operation company, signed a MOU to provide training services for pilots, mechanics and air traffi c controllers. This cooperation agreement has not only promoted the development of related industries, but also set an example for countries to develop trade in services via the CAEXPO.

Education Is Also Trade

In the “Golden Decade” for China-ASEAN cooperation, bilateral trade in goods had expanded sharply, but trade in services had not developed well. However, with the launch of negotiations on CAFTA, market access for trade in services will continue to be loosened in the future. This has posed an opportunity as well as a challenge for China, ASEAN, and other“10+6” countries.

The GATS which took effect in 1995 has included education services in the scope of trade in services. It specifi es that apart from educational activities fully-supported by the government (such as military and police education), all commercial teaching activities that require a tuition fee belong to education services.

According to the definition of trade in services given by the GATS, education services can be conducted in the following four ways: cross-border supply, consumption abroad, commercial presence, and movement of natural persons. Consumption abroad refers to studying abroad, educational investigation and academic visit, among which studying abroad is the main form, which takes a decisive position in international education services. Currently, the entire trade volume of education services is

Services for studying abroad are very mature in developed countries. In the trend of economic globalization and education internationalization, the “10+6”countries have gradually paid attention to services for studying abroad. As early as 2008, ICBC Singapore Branch, a representative of the CAEXPO’s financial service, provided a comprehensive financial service for those Chinese students studying in Singapore, which includes account management, foreign exchange remittance, and foreign currency exchange etc.

Blue Ocean Turning Red

Different from trade in goods, services for studying abroad not only bring about fi scal revenue and economic benefi ts, but also attract international talents, and breed future political leaders, facilitating national diplomacy. So, it benefi ts both sides.

As far as services for studying abroad is concerned, any country could be boththe importing and exporting country. Speaking of source of students, China is the largest exporting country of students. China’s Report on Studying Abroad indicates that the number of Chinese students studying abroad was over 410,000 in 2013. The lasting craze for studying abroad has made China a hot cake in the international education service market.

With regard to the receiving country, in the overseas study market under the framework of “10+1” and “10+6”, the blue ocean is turning red. Australia, an up-rising star in education service exporting, has earned 16.3 billion Australian dollars in education service trade, which has surpassed its earning from traditional wool industry. As a big source of students, China also receives students from other countries, especially from the Asian countries. Due to its close economic and trade contacts with ASEAN, ASEAN’s overseas study market is becoming prosperous. Driven by the China-ASEAN “Double 100,000 Student Exchange Plan”, in particular, ASEAN’s overseas study market is going to enjoy a brilliant future.

For Chinese students, Malaysia and Singapore have advantages over the US and Europe – similar cultural environment and affordable tuition fees. Besides, the CAFTA and CAEXPO have laid a good foundation and provided policy support for overseas study and exchanges between China and ASEAN. Students study at joint schools run by local private schools and foreign colleges could obtain foreign academic degrees. Coupled with the aff ordable tuition fees, many working families begin to choose the ASEAN countries.

However, compared with countries that provide mature education services, the ASEAN countries, and even China, need to do more. In exhibitions like the CAEXPO, few agencies have ever showed up for promotion. Yet, this has left huge space for relevant industries if we look at it from another perspective.

Studying Abroad: Where to Go?

China is the biggest student exporting country. With the upsurge of homecoming, “overseas returnees” begin to play an important role in its economic and social development. Although the return has brought certain social benefi ts, all education service importing countries should strengthen their own education services, so as to win more benefits in shifting their roles between an exporter and importer of education services.

Both trade in goods and trade in services are closely related to a country’s overall economic development. Therefore, it is of vital importance to take economic construction as the central task and raise the international competitiveness of trade. Researches show that as trade between China and the source country of student increase 1%, the number of students coming to China rise 0.85%. This indicates a positive correlation between trade contacts and education service trade. As the economic cooperation between China and ASEAN continues to go in depth, educational exchanges between the two sides are bound to become more frequent.

“If you want to work with iron, you must be tough yourself”. High-quality educational resources are preconditions for developing education services. This requires not only internationalized teams of teachers, model of teaching, and education certification etc., but also simplified application procedures, abundant incentives, and comparatively loose employment environment.

Despite the infinite potentials of these emerging overseas study markets, their influence in the world market is comparatively limited. “Good wine also needs bush”, so how to “advertise”is of great importance. In some developed countries, governments work with colleges and set up specialized organizations to promote overseas study services. Besides, other publicizing approaches also prove crucial. For example, the CAEXPO held each year is an optimal platform for publicizing, where high-level exchanges, as well as investment promotion activities are organized. If relevant enterprises could take this opportunity to advertise their superior overseas study services and gain attention, it would be beneficial for them to develop new markets. When China’s provincial and municipal governments go abroad to invite investment, they could “share a ride” with colleges and help them hold exhibitions and enroll students.

In addition, in the framework of the upgraded version of CAFTA and CAEXPO, as well as the continuouslyexpanding “10+6”, the trilateral MOU signed between China and Australia is a good try. New models like joint-running school and long-distance education will provide new ideas for cooperation and promote the upgrading of overseas study services within the region. And there would be new answers for “where to go” for study.