China-Africa University Partnerships in Education and Training: Students, Trainees, Teachers and Researchers

Dr Li, Jun   (Principal Investigator (PI))

Dr Tian Xiaohong   (Co-Investigator)

Mrs King Pravina   (Co-Investigator)

Professor King Kenneth   (Co-Investigator)

54

2012-10-03

377101

China-Africa University Partnerships in Education and Training: Students, Trainees, Teachers and Researchers

20+20 partnership, Africa, China, FOCAC, higher education

Education: Policy & Administration,Others - relating to Social Sciences

Humanities & Social Sciences (H)

HKU 842912H

General Research Fund (GRF)

2012

Completed

1) The proposed project will provide an in-depth analysis of China’s HRD policies for Africa that are being implemented in both countries. In particular, it will examine the wider rationale for the multiple HRD strategies outlined in the 2010-2012 Action Plan by FOCAC. The 20+20 university partnership scheme between China and Africa will provide an ideal lens for the analysis over this period. 2) Through these higher education development strategies, the research will theorise the central role of partnership in China’s explicitly ethical discourse on South-South cooperation and mutual benefit between China and Africa. Detailed analyses will be provided for the multiple, overlapping dimensions of university partnership in terms of African trainees, students, researchers and language teachers in the selected Chinese universities. 3) Within China’s general HRD strategies for Africa, this research will provide an overview of the changing role of long- and short-term training for Africans attending the 20 Chinese universities in the 20+20 scheme. Moreover, it will especially examine the Africans present in the six partnership universities in China which are twinned with universities in the case study countries. 4) Equally, the project will provide an analysis of the outcomes, in terms of perceived symmetry and mutual benefit, based on participation in the 20+20 cooperation scheme, in the six African universities in the above case study countries. 5) Furthermore, the project will contribute to the literature on South-South academic cooperation, offering some answers to questions on whether and how such a programme may work more effectively. 6) Finally, the proposed study will build analytic capacity both in CUHK and in ZNU in understanding China’s discourse, policy and practice of development cooperation in higher education, with particular reference to Africa.