World Bank calls for university autonomy

A major World Bank report on China has called for universities to be given more autonomy by the state. This is key if they are to make a substantial contribution to innovation that would drive economic growth and enable China to leap the difficult hurdle from being a middle-income to a high-income country by 2030.

Innovation would be key to future growth as the rapid economic growth of the past few decades begins to slow, said the report China 2030:
Building a modern, harmonious and creative high-income society, published last week.

To this end China must improve the quality of research in its universities, give institutions more autonomy and link up researchers in national and international R&D networks.

It must also allow in more international branch campuses in collaboration with domestic universities, in order to develop international standards of management of universities, the report said, suggesting that international institutions could help impart such standards.

The report, seen as a groundbreaking overview of the Chinese economy and a blueprint for its future direction, was drawn up by the World Bank in collaboration with the Development Research Centre.

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