Internationalization Strategies of Chinese Universities: Webometric Approach

As the result of educational policy reforms and overall development and unprecedented economic growth of the PRC since the beginning of the reforms and opening up, China has become one of the leading countries in attracting overseas educational migrants. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to research international strategies of universities in the PRC, focusing on how universities build international partnerships. In order to achieve this aim, in this bachelor thesis we ask three following research questions: (1) Does the Chinese governmental policy towards building world-class universities in the last two decades of the 20th century influence on Chinese universities’ partner choice? (2) With what countries do PRC’s higher educational institutions tend to cooperate? (3) How do Chinese universities of different level of advancement shape their contacts with different geographical regions? We examined international strategies of universities in the PRC through analyzing web presence of foreign universities on Chinese higher education institutions’ websites. Webometric indicators from universities’ websites were used in this research as a representation of real collaborations, providing an opportunity to reveal Chinese higher educational establishments’ international partnerships and disclosing the nature of these collaborations. We found, that universities in the PRC choose their partners differently depending on their own level of advancement. Also, we discovered the importance of geographical proximity and involvement of China in international collaborations in shaping universities’ partnerships. Moreover, the choice of countries with which universities to cooperate with also differs among universities of different development.