China Investment Roadmap - the Education Sector

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China Briefing · Issue 167 · August 2016
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During the official establishment stage, another
application for official set-up must be submitted
with the following documents:
• Application form for official establishment
• Approval certificate for preparatory establishment
• Status report for preparatory establishment
• Articles of association
• Certificates of capital and assets of the Sino-
foreign cooperative educational institution
• Personnel list of the first board of directors, board
of trustees, or joint management committee (to
satisfy the requirement of“led by Chinese party”)
• Proof of qualifications of the principal, chief
administrative officer, teachers, and financial staff
The bureaus in charge will review and decide
whethertoapprovewithinthreemonthsofreceiving
the application for non-academic education and six
months for academic education. Upon approval, a
permit for Sino-foreign cooperative educationwith
a standard format and serial number will be issued.
The last step for establishment is to register in the
civil affairs department. After that, the educational
institution will be legally formed and allowed to
conduct corresponding enrolment and teaching
activities. However, it is important to note that it is,
once again, forbidden to open additional branches
or conduct any for-profit activities.
Set-up of for-profit training centers in
certain cities
For-profit training centers are now possible in
limited cities, as mentioned above, though the
specific procedures vary from city to city. Here we
look at Shanghai as an example.
In Shanghai, qualified investors who can provide
international advancedmanagement experience, a
servicemodel, training subjects, qualified teachers,
or teaching facilities are allowed to invest in Sino-
foreign cooperative for-profit training centers in the
FreeTrade Zone (FTZ). There are a number of set-up
requirements for a for-profit training center, the
most important of which being that the institution
must have appropriate school-running funds of no
less than RMB 1 million, with one half monetary
contributions. Additionally, the for-profit training
center must be registered as a company rather
than a private non-enterprise unit, subject to the
following process:
1. Step 1: Make company name pre-approval and
registration in the FTZ AIC department and
submit required documents
2. Step 2: The AIC department must deliver
the application to the FTZ Administration
Commission. Within 10 days of receiving
the application, the Commission will make
a decision. Upon approval, a preparatory
establishment business license will be issued
3. Step 3: Within six months of receiving the
preparatory establishment business license,
the applicant should apply to the FTZ
AIC department for official establishment
registration, otherwise it must change the
business scope or de-register the business
license
For-profit training centers are allowed to have
branches, but no less than a RMB 0.5 million capital
increase should be made for each branch.
Educational and
vocational training
Traditional path New Choice
Apply and register in
AIC department
Consulting with local
Education Administrative
Authorities or HR Department
PRIVATE NON ENTERPRISE UNIT
Educational
training
Vocational
training
Educational
administrative
department
Permit to establish private educational institutes
HR
department
ENTERPRISE
Register in Civil A airs Department