The other side of China’s TNE story: China’s universities go overseas

Much has been discussed recently about new transnational education (TNE) developments in China. Yet comparatively little attention has been paid to the delivery of China-led TNE programmes overseas, and the expansion of Chinese universities internationally.

However, the recent opening of a new branch campus in Uzbekistan illustrates how Chinese universities are starting to pay greater attention to establishing their own higher education provision outside China.

In August, Liaoning Normal University announced the opening of a new branch campus in Khiva, in the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. The university has established the campus jointly with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation and Urgench State University.

The new campus has been designed to accommodate up to 2,000 students, with programs in tourism management, international business, artificial intelligence and Chinese language and culture. Uzbekistan’s government has allocated 140 billion Uzbek Soms (approximately USD$11.8 million) towards its construction.

TNE, and specifically the introduction of international branch campuses (IBCs), is increasingly being used across Central Asia to expand higher education capacity, strengthen quality, and develop skills for the region’s growing population.

In Uzbekistan, the number of international higher education institutions has increased rapidly, and the country now hosts the third largest concentration of IBCs globally after China and the UAE. The country’s 2026 higher education data currently record 35 foreign institutions in operation from countries like South Korea, India, Russia, and the UK.

The majority of these institutions are concentrated in Tashkent City and the Tashkent region, with only a small number located elsewhere in the country, including in Fergana, Andijan, and Samarkand. The new campus in Khiva is a significant addition as it’s not only as an expansion of Uzbekistan’s TNE provision, but also extends this model beyond the country’s main higher education centres while bringing a Chinese university into the landscape.

Kazakhstan has pursued a similar strategy in recent years, attracting international universities as part of its own efforts to expand and internationalise its higher education system. The country has welcomed providers including Cardiff University, which opened a branch campus in Astana in 2025, in addition to several other UK universities. Alongside this broader expansion of TNE, Kazakhstan has also developed deeper bilateral higher education ties with neighbouring China.

A number of joint institutions between Chinese universities and local universities have been established, including Beijing Language and Culture University‘s Astana campus, which opened in 2024 in partnership with Astana International University, and Northwestern Polytechnical University‘s Almaty branch campus, which opened in 2023 in partnership with Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. This growing institutional presence has been accompanied by increasing flows of international students into China, with around 20,000 Kazakhstani students studying in China as of 2025.

The new Khiva campus cannot be seen as an isolated development; it forms part of a small but growing presence of Chinese universities overseas

Within this context, the new Khiva campus cannot be seen as an isolated development; it forms part of a small but growing presence of Chinese universities overseas. Much of the recent discussion around Chinese TNE has focused on the other direction of travel, with foreign universities establishing programmes and campuses in China. This activity continues to expand, and in May 2026, China’s Ministry of Education approved 219 new Sino-foreign TNE partnerships – 133 joint programmes and 86 joint institutes. Less attention has been paid, however, to Chinese universities expanding their footprint overseas.

Current Chinese-led TNE takes several different forms. There are a small number of comprehensive branch campuses. Soochow University in Laos opened in the southeast Asian country in 2012. Xiamen University Malaysia also opened its doors in 2015 as the first overseas branch campus established by a Chinese university included in China’s Double First-Class Initiative.

However, the more common model for Chinese universities is embedded campuses within local institutions, as seen with Beijing Language and Culture University in Astana and Northwestern Polytechnical University in Almaty. This overseas presence is now growing as Chinese universities are increasingly encouraged to “go global”.

Chinese universities have historically operated within a highly centralised, state-directed system, with universities expected to align higher education to support the country’s development. However, changes in recent years have given universities greater autonomy in key areas, including in international collaboration. The result is a system that still involves strong government oversight, and where alignment with national development goals remains important, but gives universities more autonomy in how they pursue those goals, including through activities outside China.

Xi’an Shiyou University’s planned campus in Uzbekistan is a further example of how these broader strategic priorities are playing out in practice. The China-Uzbekistan Petroleum University as it will be known is being jointly developed in partnership with Samarkand State University and Uzbekistan Datang International Investment Co., the local subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned energy company China Datang Corporation. The campus will focus on energy-related education, while Datang’s first overseas renewable energy project in Uzbekistan also signals Central Asia’s growing importance to China’s energy security.

This is taking place alongside a rapid expansion of Chinese investment across Central Asia, particularly in energy and infrastructure, as the region has become an increasingly important part of the Belt and Road Initiative. In Uzbekistan’s Khorezm region, where the new Khiva campus is being established, Chinese investment is also growing. The province is currently home to 38 major projects backed by Chinese investors worth a combined $2.343 billion. These projects require skilled professionals with relevant technical skills and Chinese language ability, creating a clear role for institutions such as the new Khiva campus.

While TNE globally is already moving toward a model where it becomes much more closely linked to host nations’ economic and social development, the Chinese model offers an example of how this can be pursued. Chinese universities are increasingly becoming part of wider economic relationships, creating a model of TNE that is closely connected to countries where China has established commercial and strategic interests.

As this model develops, the growth of intra-Asian TNE will be an increasingly important part of the global TNE landscape.