The engagement of higher education in regional development in China

Xuefeng Wang, Paul Vallance

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The widely established role of higher education institutions in contributing to regional development is now also encouraged by the Chinese government. This development has been enabled by changes in state policy that in some respects align with global trends towards expansion, marketisation, and regional decentralisation in national higher education systems. However, the regional engagement of higher education institutions in China takes distinctive forms that are shaped by specific features of its governance system, including the politicisation of higher education, the incorporation of higher education institutions into the administrative hierarchy, and the disequilibrium of funding schemes between central and provincial owned higher education institutions. This paper provides a preliminary analysis of this relationship between higher education and regional development in China. It argues that the policy to encourage regional engagement by higher education institutions in China has generally served to enhance patterns of regional inequality between the coastal and inland regions and between upper- and lower-administrative level cities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1657-1678
Number of pages22
JournalEnvironment and Planning C: Government and Policy
Volume33
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • China
  • higher education
  • regional development
  • regional engagement

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