China is expected to be the largest English speaking county by 2016. At the same time, China is expected to lead the world in the production of academic research within the next decade and currently has the largest higher education system in the world. China enrolls more than 25 million college students, with a college graduation rate that exceeds any other nation, resulting in the largest number of college graduates in the world.
Education is highly valued by the Chinese government and has undergone an academic revolution from which leading, world class universities have emerged. Many of China’s universities are considered among the world’s best. The Chinese government has invested more than 136 million in higher education to advance their leadership in research, science and technology. As a result of significant educational funding in a handful of public universities, China is becoming the world’s leader in research and publication. China graduates more students with doctorate degrees than any other country in the world.
In the early 1990’s, Under Project 985, China invested billions of dollars to fund 36 of their approximately 4000 higher education institutions. In 2009 the Chinese government organized 9 public universities that through support and monetary investments have easily emerged as world class academic competitors. China’s continued investment in higher education ensures their continued growth as leaders in world research and economic advancement.
Much of China’s advancement in research has been fueled by collaborative research partnerships with the UK and US. As China’s research continues to advance with expanded partnerships in Asia, China is being recognized as equals for their contributions to international research. With these successes still exists a enormous amount of corruption, bureaucracy and plagiarism, which continues to plague the efficacy of China’s academics.
The explosion of China’s higher education system and tremendous investments in a finite group of universities (C9 Alliance) has given China recognition as an emerging super power, however China’s increasing number of unemployed college graduates and monumental number of annual college graduates, presents a frightening forecast for the continued health of China’s economy. It is estimated that China graduates more than 6 million college students annually, with more than 16% of those graduates remaining unemployed in 2009.
Additionally, China’s teaching pedagogy and historical approach to rote learning and memorization, will require extensive reform to enable graduates to excel with innovation and creativity to successfully communicate and work in a highly team oriented environment, which is necessary to remain competitive in the global market place.
