More and more foreign teachers choose to work in Hainan FTP. Photo shows a Canadian teacher teaching English to students in Hainan University. (PHOTO: VCG)

By CHEN Chunyou

International institutions of higher education and those from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan are permitted to set up campuses in Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), according to a recent circular jointly released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Hainan provincial government. The aim is to promote the opening up of higher education to the world and advance the construction of the Hainan FTP.

Currently, overseas higher educational institutions need to cooperate with a Chinese counterpart to run branch campuses in the mainland. Some typical universities under this Sino-Foreign cooperative mode include New York University Shanghai in Shanghai's Pudong New Area and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Jiangsu's Suzhou city.

A major difference of this latest plan is that overseas universities can set up campuses independently in Hainan FTP, which means there is no need for the involvement of China's mainland university.

According to the circular, overseas university intending to set up a campus in Hainan FTP should have an excellent global reputation, and possess unique strengths in certain fields, such as science, engineering, agriculture and medicine, in addition to maintaining a good record of producing graduates that have good career prospects.

These new campuses will have significant independence and flexibility in conducting academic research, recruiting faculty members, and setting tuition policies.

The inbound universities are also encouraged to set up student exchange programs and ensure mutual recognition of credits with their home campuses.

Of particular note, those universities can benefit from the island's duty-free policy for imported teaching equipment, while high-end lecturers and experts working at universities only need to pay a maximum rate of 15 percent income tax, according to a separate statement released by MOE.

In order to ensure the quality of teaching, they are required to follow staffing standards comparable to those applied in their home campuses when recruiting or dispatching faculty members.

The universities are encouraged to introduce advanced courses and teaching materials and enroll overseas students besides mainland students, while foreign languages are also allowed in teaching.

Hainan provincial government and related departments should offer conveniences to foreign teachers and other foreign staff in entry and exit services, residence, healthcare, children's schooling, as well as the recognition of professional qualifications, said the plan.

As early as 2020, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences from Germany signed an agreement with Hainan provincial government to set up a branch campus on the island, making it the first overseas university to be established in Hainan. Under this new policy, more overseas universities are expected to flow into the island province.