Taiwan lifts ban on setting up schools in China.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

web site on 9 January

The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday announced the lifting of a ban on high schools and elementary schools' setting up branches in China, reasoning that the scholastic issue is more of a commercial investment issue. Those colleges, universities and graduate schools preferred by China are still banned.

The new policy is particularly tailored to allow Taiwanese educators to take advantage of the growing education market in China. These branches of Taiwanese schools will target Chinese students and adopt China's test books. The exact timing of when applications should be submitted will be announced once the Ministry of Education completes its draft of related regulations, an official of MAC said.

Chang Shu-li, director of MAC's Department of Cultural and Educational Affairs, made the remark at an annual briefing yesterday and explained that local schools had expressed their interest in investing in China numerous times. Despite the government having lifted bans on numerous industries' investments in China, the ban on education has always remained.

Responding to the request, Chang said that after discussions and evaluations, the related departments concluded that lifting the ban would be considered under the guidelines of investment. Schools planning to set up branches in China will have to undertake the same procedures as those of other industries wanting to invest in China by submitting their applications to the Investment Commission under the ...