The Chinese Government has exempted Sino-Foreign Joint Education Programs from paying Value-Added Tax (VAT) on its earnings from education services for academic qualifications.
The Chinese State Administration of Taxation announced on Wednesday that it will waive the VAT of Sino-Foreign education ventures as it encourages Chinese citizens' drive for higher education.
According to the Chinese State Administration of Taxation, the Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education Program was established on September 1, 2003, and was predominantly aiming for Chinese citizens. It added that the Chinese Government has been encouraging joint ventures with foreign institutions in the field of higher education as well as that of vocational programs.
Meanwhile, the VAT exemption is only applicable to Sino-Foreign Joint Ventures that focused on academic qualifications.
In 2016, the Chinese Ministry of Education approved 2,500 Chinese-foreign educational institutions and programs that are cooperatively operated. China has also sealed agreements with 47 countries and regions for the mutual recognition of programs, degrees, and diplomas.
Cutting down Chinese-foreign education programs
Together with the exemption is also the termination of over 200 Chinese-foreign run education programs and institutions.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, such move is beneficial to the education sector as it helps in improving the quality of education.
"These institutions and programs could not meet the demands for high-quality education in the new era," said Shanghai Normal University Associate Professor Wang Qicai.
Dongbei University of Finance and Economics Vice President Zhao Yanzhi also said that the termination can help in the improvement of education resources' quality.
"A good exit mechanism is an important link in the supervision over the quality of education and ensures the healthy development of the Sino-foreign cooperatively-run institutions," Zhao said.
Two hundred thirty-four Chinese-foreign run education programs and institutions for the undergraduate education programs were terminated, broken as five institutions and 229 programs.
High-quality education
The Chinese Ministry of Education emphasized that China values high-quality education.
Around 450,000 students are currently studying under the programs of the Chinese-foreign run schools. According to the ministry, more than 1.5-million have graduated from such kind of program and institutions.
"China will continue to improve the exit mechanism to promote the quality and efficiency of these education institutions," according to the Chinese Ministry of Education.
As of June 2018, there are 2,342 Sino-foreign programs and institutions in China that are cooperatively operated. In the ministry's most updated list, the new joint ventures are in Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Jiangsu and Heilongjiang provinces with cooperative partners from Russia, France and Australia. There are also newly approved joint programs with colleges and universities from Ireland, Germany, France, USA, Singapore, Australia, Canada, and the UK.
