新法爲中國民辦大學帶來機遇

A new law which took effect in September is generating a wave of investor interest in China’s higher education sector. The law, enacted by China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress last November, lets universities and high-schools establish themselves as for-profits for the first time. All providers operating in the K-9 space must continue to remain non-profit. This is the last major sector of China’s economy to be commercialised, following close on the heels of the health sector overhaul.

今年9月生效的一部新法律使得投資者對中國高等教育領域興趣大增。這部由中國全國人大常委會去年11月批准的法律首次允許大學和高中成爲營利性實體。9年義務教育的所有提供方依然必須是非營利機構。這是繼醫療改革之後，中國經濟最後一個即將商業化的重大領域。

Like every other country in the world, China is struggling to close skills gaps in the labor market and to equip youth with the knowledge they need to thrive in a global economy. Demand for higher education outstrips supply. China’s public universities are already heavily-subsidised and the government has limited room to grow public spending. The new law is aimed at attracting private investment neededto expand access to relevant skills and training. With their close links to industry, many private universities are More responsive to labor market evolutions and have skills-based curriculums.

與世界上其他國家一樣，中國正在竭力縮小勞動力市場的技能差距，讓年輕人掌握在一個全球經濟體就業所需的知識。高等教育需求超出了供應。中國公立大學已經獲得大量補貼，而政府加大公共支出的空間有限。新法旨在吸引私人投資，以擴大獲得相關技能和培訓的途徑。由於與行業聯繫緊密，許多私立大學對勞動力市場的演變反應更爲靈敏，並實行基於技能的教學大綱。

The opportunity for growth is vast. Today, China’s private tertiary education industry is small, underinvested, and fragmented. Overall higher education spending is about $149bn, about $135bn of which is financed by the public purse, and the remainder from the private sector. Some 29m Chinese are enrolled in some form of higher education, of which only about 6.3m are enrolled in private universities, a number expected to hit 8m by 2021, according to a Frost and Sullivan report.

增長機遇是巨大的。如今，中國私立高等教育行業規模小、投資不足而且分散。總體高等教育支出大約爲1490億美元，其中大約1350億美元是由公共財政支付的，剩下的來自私人領域。Frost & Sullivan的一份報告顯示，大約2900萬中國人正在接受某種形式的高等教育，其中只有大約630萬人在私立大學上學，預計到2021年該數據將達到800萬人。

Though small, private higher education is growing fast — 8.2 per cent a year — compared with 6.5 per cent annual growth in the public sector, according to government statistics. With 40 per cent of China’s high-school graduates going onto university (either public or private), its tertiary enrolment ratio exceeds the global average of 37 per cent, UNESCO figures show. It outperforms India, at 27 per cent, but lags behind many middle-income countries in other world regions, such as in Latin America (Colombia stands at 47 per cent).

儘管規模小，但私立高等教育發展很快，每年增長8.2%，而政府統計數據顯示，公立高等教育每年增長6.5%。由於中國40%的高中畢業生會進入大學（無論公立還是私立），聯合國教科文組織(UNESCO)數據顯示，其高等教育入學率超過全球37%的平均水平。它超過印度27%的水平，但落後於拉美等其他地區的許多中等收入國家（哥倫比亞的高等教育入學率是47%）。

Allowing private universities to operate as for-profits will make it easier for them to raise finance from capital markets and expand, including through M&A activities. Historically these institutions had to be registered as non-profits, limiting avenues for both debt and equity funding. There have already been several successful Initial Public Offerings (IPO) over the past six months.

允許私立大學作爲營利性實體經營，將讓它們更容易從資本市場籌資，並進行擴張（包括通過併購活動）。過去這些機構不得不註冊爲非營利性機構，這限制了債務和股權融資途徑。過去6個月裏已經有多家機構成功進行了首次公開發行(IPO)。

In March Minsheng Education, one of the top ten private universities for enrolments, with more than 30,000 students, held an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. IFC became a cornerstone investor in Minsheng, taking a $25m equity stake. Minsheng is based in Chongqing, a city of 30m people. Because of this supportive policy change, the highly fragmented private education sector has begun consolidation, facilitated by mergers and acquisitions among the large education groups.

今年3月，民生教育(Minsheng Education)在香港交易所(HKEx)上市——按入學總人數計算，民生教育是中國十大民辦大學之一，擁有逾3萬名學生。國際金融公司(IFC)成爲民生教育的基石投資者，獲得2500萬美元的股權。民生教育總部位於擁有3000萬人口的重慶。由於這種支持性政策改變，極爲分散的民辦教育領域開始整合——通過大型教育集團之間的併購。

The new law gives for-profit higher education providers full autonomy in setting tuition fees. Currently, the government has a say over fees. It also strengthens the ownership rights of for-profit providers by granting them full freedom to dispose of their assets should their schools cease operating, a freedom they do not presently enjoy. Further, it will allow the for-profit institutions to declare dividends legally.

新的法律在設定學費方面賦予營利性高等教育提供商充分自主權。就目前而言，中國政府對學費有話語權。新法還增強了營利性機構的所有者權利，賦予它們在學校停止運營後處置資產的充分自由——目前它們不享有這種自由。此外，它還允許這些營利性機構依法派發股息。

Most of the investors availing themselves of the opportunities provided by the new law are Chinese. Their focus tends to be on developing bachelor degree programs. Foreign investors operating in this space are fewer and they tend to partner with the leading public universities in China, such as US-based Duke University setting up a campus in Shanghai in partnership with Wuhan University.

利用新法所提供機遇的投資者大多是中國人。他們的聚焦點往往是發展學士學位課程。在這一領域運營的外國投資者比較少，他們往往與中國的領先公立大學合作，比如美國杜克大學(Duke University)與武漢大學(Wuhan University)合作在上海設立一個校園。

Expanding private education will help the millions of young Chinese who find it hard to get into the public universities. While the public universities generally provide high quality andrelatively affordable education, they tend to admit only top-performing students. Private universities, by contrast, largely focus on enhancing job skills of students with lower entrance exam scores, many of whom come from lower to middle income families. Thus, for students who are not quite at the top of their class, private universities are great avenues for pursuing their ambitions for a degree that puts them in a stronger position to compete for higher-paying jobs.

擴大民營教育將會幫助難以進入中國公立大學的數以百萬計的年輕人。儘管公立大學通常教學水平高，而且費用相對可承受，但它們往往只招收成績優秀的學生。相比之下，民辦大學主要致力於增強學生的就業技能，入學分數線較低，許多學生來自中低收入家庭。因此，對那些學習成績不是很優秀的學生來說，民辦大學是他們實現學位抱負的極好平臺，讓他們在競爭較高薪資職位時處於更爲有利的地位。

The new law aims tohelp alleviateyouth unemployment in China, as graduates from private universities tend to get jobs quickly. A few top ranking private universities, such as Xi’an EurAsia University, Minsheng Education and Shandong Yingcai University, have seen more than 90 per cent of their students find jobs within a couple of months of graduating.

中國出臺新法的目的是幫助緩解年輕人的失業狀況，因爲民辦大學的畢業生往往很快就能找到工作。一些頂尖的民辦大學，比如西安歐亞大學(EurAsia University)、民生教育和山東英才學院(Shandong Yingcai University)，逾90%的學生在畢業後兩個月內就找到了工作。

Top-tier private universities’ employability rate is high, because they specialize in imparting in-demand skills such as nursing and geriatric care, early childhood education, software engineers, construction technicians and high-end manufacturing jobs, as well as some specialized programs, such as railway operations. Employability is an important consideration for us at IFC, as we decide where to invest for the greatest development impact. Strong regulatory oversight and quality standards are equally important as the for-profit education industry develops further in China.

一流民辦大學的就業率很高，因爲它們專業教授熱門技能，比如護理和老年醫學照顧、早教、軟件工程師、建築施工技術人員和高端製造業崗位，以及一些專門課程，比如鐵路運營。對國際金融公司來說，就業能力是一個重要考量，因爲我們要決定在哪裏投資才能取得最大發展效果。隨着營利性教育行業在中國進一步發展，強有力的監管和質量標準也很重要。

While the law is already transforming China’s university market, a wholesale flip from non-profit to for-profit status is unlikely. Non-profits have plenty of incentives to keep their status. For example, they will continue to receive more favorable tax treatment and have access to cheaper land than for-profits. They may also continue to enjoy certain types of government subsidies.

儘管新法已經在轉變中國的大學市場，但不太可能有大量機構從非營利轉向營利性。非營利性機構有很多動機維持它們的地位。例如，它們將會繼續享受稅收優惠，土地價格也比營利性機構便宜。它們還可能繼續享受某些形式的政府補貼。

It will be fascinating to watch how China’s higher education market evolves. Will the public universities continue to attract the top-notch students or will they face stiffer competition? Will the new for-profit entities use their capital infusions to boost enrolment levels? Perhaps most important of all, will China’s higher education system become better equipped to respond to the labor market’s ever-changing needs? I am confident that it will.

觀察中國高等教育市場如何演變將會很有意思。公立大學將會繼續吸引優秀學生，抑或它們會面臨更爲激烈的競爭？新的營利性機構將會利用雄厚資本來提升入學水平嗎？或許最重要的是，中國高等教育體系將會更有能力迴應勞動力市場不斷變化的需求嗎？我相信它會的。