China's University Education

Jul,21 2013

The American and Russian education systems have exerted great influence on China’s university education. Regarding the influence, the following items are the most significant:

 
In terms of category, Chinese universities are divided into research universities, comprehensive universities, colleges for professional training and higher vocational education.

In terms of university title, you may find that in China, the titles of universities have something to do with where they are located (like the city name) or the expertise they are or used to be specialized in. For example, Shandong University, Qingdao University, Jinan University etc. or Ocean University of China, China University of Petroleum ,University of Aeronautics, University of Architecture, Post and Telecommunications University and so on.

The Evolvement of China’s Universities

Nowadays, comprehensive universities prevail in China. Most of the Chinese comprehensive universities are merged by colleges during the past decades, therefore，In spite of their disciplines’ special strong points, these universities can also provide many subjects which seems their current names exclude, so you can study almost any type of subjects there, such as clinical medicine in Central South University, Master of International Relation in Shandong University, International Economic and trade in Beihang University, business administration in Donghua university.

China University Administration

The Ministry of Education and provincial authority control China’s universities directly, thus the quality and course setting are ensured. Moreover, since almost all Chinese universities are public universities and only they are able to award degrees in China, so there’s no need for foreign students to worry about the degree they will obtain from China’s universities.

A lot of universities (especially medical schools) were in the charge of certain ministries of the Chinese central government half a decade ago, however, now all of them are either incorporated under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education or are included in other comprehensive universities by merging.

The Quality Control System of Chinese Universities

Chinese government pays great attention to control universities’ standards, because universities in china are almost public universities. It ensures their qualities in these following ways:

1. The “Undergraduate Quality of Education Assessment Committee” is set up by the Chinese Ministry of Education. And the university will undergo mandatory periodic assessment in it

2. The quality and development of different disciplines and research areas must be estimated by the association of every subject course on a regular basis

3. If one university wants to open a new course or award a degree, it must be reviewed and get the approval of the Ministry of Education

4. There’re personal organizations and the media which compare all the Chinese universities every year.

Undertakings of China’s universities-teaching and Scientific Research

There are two main undertakings of China’s universities: teaching and scientific research. Teaching in China's universities is conducted in accordance with specific teaching curriculum and program plans. In a bid to fulfill the teaching task, various forms of teaching are implemented including classroom lecture, classroom discussion, experiment class, exercise doing, and guidance class. Besides classroom teaching, on-the spot demonstration, practice teaching, investigations and other related forms of teaching are also conducted for the sake of improving students’ problem-solving ability and reinforcing the knowledge they have learned.

Scientific research plays vital part in fostering students with research capacity and developing a nation’s science and technology. According to official figures, China had 1,041universities and colleges establishing 102 state key laboratories and research labs, as well as36 state engineering research centers. These laboratories, research labs and centers are becoming the main driving force of China’s technology and science boom.

The semesters and holidays of Chinese universities

Commonly speaking, a foreign student has one chance to enroll each year if he or she is taking a degree program. However, there are also some universities offers two times for the enrollment in a year.

The new semester usually begins in autumn in China. But in some universities, the school year begins in spring. 

Fall Semester: Mid-September – January or Early February of the next year (some universities’ school year for foreign students begins at the end of September or mid-October, for example MBBS or some engineering courses which are taught in English).

Spring semester: February or Early March – Mid July

Please remember that you have to take almost all the classes on weekdays excluding school holidays. During the school holidays, the school will be closed for learning. Beside school holidays, public holidays are provided all over the community.

Summer holiday is from early July to late August.

Winter holiday is from the middle of January to February during the Chinese New Year