Cancellations of global education partnerships not new, ministry says

The Ministry of Education said on Monday that news reports about it canceling 286 international partnerships with education institutions and programs were based on old information.

Without fact-checking, some media outlets claimed the ministry's closing of the institutions and programs as the "latest news", but the cancellation lists were published by the ministry in 2018 and 2019, the ministry said in a statement.

Their reporting has misled the public and has led to widespread public concern, the ministry said.

The ministry approved those cancellations based on a regulation on Sino-foreign education cooperation, it said.

Most of the programs and institutions were terminated after domestic and foreign universities decided to part ways for various reasons. Some were poor quality and failed evaluations, the ministry said.

The ministry conducts routine evaluations, annual reviews and special regulation campaigns to improve the quality of Sino-foreign education cooperation, the ministry said.

An exiting mechanism is an important part of the regulation and can ensure students' interests and improve social recognition, it added.