The "Hawaii of China" turning into an education island - China's southern province Hainan and its role in the 14th Five Year Plan.
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The Hawaii of China - a common name referring to China’s southernmost island, Hainan (海南 or 海南省). But besides having lush beaches and five-star hotels, Beijing has plans to make Hainan much more than just a popular holiday destination.
In 2020, Xi Jinping announced Hainan to house a Free Trade Port (自由贸易港) which should open in batches (2025, 2035 and 2050). The free trade port promises favorable conditions for investment and trade with China. In addition, foreign individuals should have an easier time applying for residence permits in China.
In addition, Beijing plans to make Hainan an international education and innovation island (国际教育创新岛), aiming for a large number of domestic and international schools and universities to open campuses there. Here is a list of schools and universities (Chinese) confirmed to open their gates in Hainan (date January 2021). Schools include the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences of Germany (FH Bielefeld) and others.
Hainan has accelerated the construction of zones dedicated to international education. For instance, the Lingshui Li'an International Education Innovation Experimental Zone （陵水黎安国际教育创新试验区） and the Sanya Yazhouwan Science and Education City (三亚崖州湾科教城等教育重点园区). It’s common practice in China for new schools and universities to be built in dedicated zones, so called university cities (大学城). This is particularly common when planning new districts and cities.
Up to 80 schools and universities & a heavy focus on vocational colleges, engineering and agriculture
Universities and colleges in Hainan will have a focus on offering courses in science, tourism, engineering, agriculture, medicine and vocational training - skills in high demand, and professions China needs for its continued growth. China has plans to improve its vocational school system by 2025.
According to the Ministry of Education, Hainan has introduced 32 domestic and international universities as well as 51 primary and secondary schools. In 2021, Hainan boasted over 500 projects related to education, and total investment amounting to about 30 billion RMB.
Part of the 14th Five Year Economic Plan
In a previous post, I have mentioned some of the things we should know about China’s new five-year plan. In short, China’s economy has been relying on what they’d call the three pillars of economic growth (三驾马车) : Export, Investment (particularly since 2008) and Domestic Consumption.
Domestic consumption has been lagging behind the other two forces of growth, and with relations between China and a number of major (Western) countries worsening, China has called on strengthening it’s ability for economic self sustainability (自力更生).
In addition, China announced that more than 700,000 Chinese students studied overseas in 2019. As Chinese families grew more affluent, a significant amount of money went abroad to support their child’s studies at an overseas school or university. Naturally, the government will encourage more of this money to be spent within China, having already announced to “establish a system and policy that does not encourage young students to study abroad” . China hopes that the Hawaii of China will further reduce the need for families to send their child(ren) overseas for first-class education.
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