Chapter II Establishment

Article 9 An educational institution which applies for establishing a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school shall have the legal person status.

Article 10 A Chinese or foreign cooperator in running a school may contribute with funds, in kind or in forms of land-use right, intellectual property rights or other assets to establish the school.

Contribution of intellectual property rights by a Chinese or foreign cooperator in running a school shall not exceed one-third of its total contribution. However, for a foreign educational institution that comes to China for cooperation in running a school at the invitation of the education administrative department or the labour administrative department of the State Council or at the invitation of the people's government of a province, an autonomous region or a municipality directly under the Central Government, its contribution in the form of intellectual property rights may exceed one-third of its total contribution.

Article 11 A Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school shall meet the basic requirements prescribed by the Education Law of the People's Republic of China, the Vocational Education Law of the People's Republic of China, the Higher Education Law of the People’s Republic of China and other laws and administrative regulations, and shall have the legal person status. However, a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school established to offer higher education service through the cooperation between a foreign educational institution and a Chinese institution of higher learning which offers education for academic qualifications may have no legal person status.

The establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school shall follow the standards for the establishment of State-run educational institutions of the same type and at the same level.

Article 12 An application for establishing a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school offering higher education for academic qualifications at or above the regular university education shall be subject to examination and approval of the education administrative department of the State Council; an application for establishing a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school offering specialized higher education or higher education for non-academic qualifications shall be subject to examination and approval of the people’s government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the proposed school is to be located.

An application for establishing a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school offering secondary education for academic qualifications, programs of tutoring self-taught students for examinations, programs offering supplementary teaching of school courses and pre-school education shall be subject to examination and approval of the education administrative department of the people’s government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the proposed school is to be located.

An application for establishing a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school offering vocational technical training shall be subject to examination and approval of the labour administrative department of the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the proposed school is to be located.

Article 13 The establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school shall include two steps of preparation for establishment and formal establishment. However, the applicant may file an application directly for formal establishment if it fulfills the conditions for offering education and meets the standards for establishment.

Article 14 An applicant who applies for preparation for establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school shall submit the following documents:

(1) a project report which shall mainly contain the names of the Chinese and foreign cooperators in running the school, the name of the proposed cooperatively-run school, educational targets, size of the school, level and form of education to be offered, conditions for offering education, system of internal management, sources of funding and capital management and use, etc.;

(2) a cooperative agreement which shall contain the duration of cooperation and ways of dispute settlement, etc.;

(3) valid documents verifying sources of assets and amount of capital, with clear statement of ownership;

(4) a donation agreement for any assets provided as a donation to the proposed school, which carries the name of the donor, value of donation, purpose of use and management methods, and the relevant valid verifying documents; and

(5) a certificate verifying that not less than 15 percent of initial funds provided by the Chinese and foreign cooperators is already invested.

Article 15 In the case of an application for preparation for establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school, the examination and approval authorities shall decide whether to grant the approval or not within 45 days from the date of receiving the application. If the application is approved, a letter of approval for preparation for establishment shall be issued; if the application is not approved, reasons shall be provided in writing.

Article 16 An applicant whose application for preparation for establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school is approved shall file an application for formal establishment within three years from the date of approval; if it is more than three years, the Chinese and foreign cooperators in running the school shall file an application anew.

During the period of preparation for establishment, no students shall be enrolled.

Article 17 An applicant who has completed its preparation for establishment and applies for formal establishment shall submit the following documents:

(1) an application for formal establishment;

(2) the letter of approval for preparation for establishment;

(3) a report on the progress of preparation for establishment;

(4) the articles of association for the Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school, and a list of members on its first board of trustees or board of directors, or of its first joint managerial committee;

(5) valid documents verifying assets of the Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school; and

(6) documents verifying the qualifications of the president or principal administrator, the teachers and financial staff.

An applicant who directly applies for formal establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school shall submit all documents listed under subparagraphs (1), (4), (5) and (6) of the preceding paragraph and subparagraphs (2), (3) and (4) of Article 14.

Article 18 In the case of an application for formal establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school offering education for non-academic qualifications, the examination and approval authorities shall decide whether to grant the approval or not within three months from the date of receiving the application; in the case of an application for formal establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school offering education for academic qualifications, the examination and approval authorities shall decide whether to grant the approval or not within six months from the date of receiving the application. If the application is approved, a permit for Chinese-foreign cooperation in running the school printed in a standard format and numbered in a unified way shall be granted; if the application is not approved, reasons shall be provided in writing.

The format of the permit for Chinese-foreign cooperation in running a school shall be determined by the education administrative department of the State Council and the printing be arranged separately by the education administrative department and the labour administrative department of the State Council in accordance with their respective functions and duties; the permit for Chinese-foreign cooperation in running a school shall be numbered in a unified way by the education administrative department of the State Council and the specific measures shall be formulated by the education administrative department jointly with the labour administrative department of the State Council.

Article 19 In the case of an application for formal establishment of a Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school offering education for academic qualifications, the examination and approval authorities, upon receiving such an application, shall organize an expert committee to make an evaluation, and the expert committee shall give its opinions.

Article 20 A Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run school which has obtained the permit for Chinese-foreign cooperation in running the school shall register in accordance with the relevant laws and administrative regulations, and the registering authorities shall process the registration timely in accordance with the relevant provisions.