China has the track record to show it can make large-scale redevelopments work as its plans to establish 15 branch campuses in Xiong¡¯an gather steam, but students will want to see evidence that there are employment opportunities in the area before committing to studying there, according to experts.

In one of the country¡¯s largest higher education expansion drives, 15 Beijing universities are in the process of establishing branch campuses in the?Xiong¡¯an?New Area of Hebei province.

The Ministry of Education said the move was designed to relieve pressure on the capital while accelerating?Xiong¡¯an¡¯s?transformation into a ¡°future city¡± focused on innovation and sustainable growth.

Four universities including Beijing?Jiaotong?University, the University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing Forestry University and the China University of Geosciences (Beijing) began construction in late 2023.

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All are directly overseen by the ministry and recognised as ¡°Double First-Class¡± institutions, a designation for China¡¯s top-tier universities.

Others, including Beijing Institute of Technology, have secured approval to follow.

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Under a ¡°one university, two campuses¡± model, institutions will retain their main sites in Beijing while building teaching and research capacity in?Xiong¡¯an. Staff, libraries and laboratories are expected to be shared across the two locations.

The first students are due to enrol in 2027, with all 15 campuses scheduled for completion by 2030. The campuses are predicted to host about 250,000 students in total.

The government said the strategy would ¡°reduce activities not directly related to Beijing¡¯s role as the capital¡± while promoting deeper cooperation between universities, local institutes and industry.

Academics said the move reflects Beijing¡¯s long-term plan to distribute resources more evenly across China¡¯s regions.

¡°The proposal will strengthen the overall higher education development in mainland China,¡± said Ka?Ho?Mok, provost and vice-president (academic and research) at The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.

¡°With Chinese universities¡¯ research and quality enhancement in the last two decades, a good number of Chinese universities are being recognised regionally and globally.¡±

Mok, also deputy director of the Centre for 51³Ô¹Ï Higher Education at the University of Oxford, added that ¡°with strong political will, together with its determination to put innovation, education and talent development together, the proposal will yield positive results if resources are sufficiently allocated for the project¡±.

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Pawe??Charasz, assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, compared the initiative to earlier large-scale urban development projects.

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¡°China has a history of large-scale, top-down urban development projects, such as those in Shenzhen, where I live, starting in the 1980s, or the Pudong New Area in Shanghai in the 1990s,¡± he said.

¡°Over the past 15 years, a few dozen new urban districts have been established across the country.¡±

Charasz?noted that while?Xiong¡¯an¡¯s?projected student population is significant, it will not make the city one of China¡¯s largest higher education hubs.

¡°While the target of 250,000 students may seem large, it is worth noting that this would still make?Xiong¡¯an?fall short of being among the top 20 largest university cities in China. In my opinion, the key question is not in the numbers but whether the universities in?Xiong¡¯an?will be able to attract top talent.¡±

He suggested that employment opportunities linked to the hundreds of state-owned enterprises relocating to?Xiong¡¯an?could prove decisive.

¡°If?Xiong¡¯an?becomes an attractive place to work, the students will follow,¡± he said.

The British Council said the UK higher education sector should monitor how quickly campuses move from construction to?enrolment, the extent of international cooperation and whether local authorities promote transnational education.

These factors, it said, would indicate the potential for foreign universities to engage with the project in future.

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If successful, the initiative would reshape northern China¡¯s higher education map, embed universities in the heart of a flagship economic zone and highlight Beijing¡¯s reliance on higher education as a driver of both talent and regional development.

tash.mosheim@timeshighereducation.com