新法為中國(guó)民辦大學(xué)帶來(lái)機(jī)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(duì)中國(guó)高等教育領(lǐng)域興趣大增。這部由中國(guó)全國(guó)人大常委會(huì)去年11月批準(zhǔn)的法律首次允許大學(xué)和高中成為營(yíng)利性實(shí)體。9年義務(wù)教育的所有提供方依然必須是非營(yíng)利機(jī)構(gòu)。這是繼醫(yī)療改革之后，中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)最后一個(gè)即將商業(yè)化的重大領(lǐng)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(guó)家一樣，中國(guó)正在竭力縮小勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)的技能差距，讓年輕人掌握在一個(gè)全球經(jīng)濟(jì)體就業(yè)所需的知識(shí)。高等教育需求超出了供應(yīng)。中國(guó)公立大學(xué)已經(jīng)獲得大量補(bǔ)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(kuò)大獲得相關(guān)技能和培訓(xùn)的途徑。由于與行業(yè)聯(lián)系緊密，許多私立大學(xué)對(duì)勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)的演變反應(yīng)更為靈敏，并實(shí)行基于技能的教學(xué)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(zhǎng)機(jī)遇是巨大的。如今，中國(guó)私立高等教育行業(yè)規(guī)模小、投資不足而且分散?？傮w高等教育支出大約為1490億美元，其中大約1350億美元是由公共財(cái)政支付的，剩下的來(lái)自私人領(lǐng)域。Frost & Sullivan的一份報(bào)告顯示，大約2900萬(wàn)中國(guó)人正在接受某種形式的高等教育，其中只有大約630萬(wàn)人在私立大學(xué)上學(xué)，預(yù)計(jì)到2021年該數(shù)據(jù)將達(dá)到800萬(wàn)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).

盡管規(guī)模小，但私立高等教育發(fā)展很快，每年增長(zhǎng)8.2%，而政府統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，公立高等教育每年增長(zhǎng)6.5%。由于中國(guó)40%的高中畢業(yè)生會(huì)進(jìn)入大學(xué)(無(wú)論公立還是私立)，聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織(UNESCO)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，其高等教育入學(xué)率超過(guò)全球37%的平均水平。它超過(guò)印度27%的水平，但落后于拉美等其他地區(qū)的許多中等收入國(guó)家(哥倫比亞的高等教育入學(xué)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(xué)作為營(yíng)利性實(shí)體經(jīng)營(yíng)，將讓它們更容易從資本市場(chǎng)籌資，并進(jìn)行擴(kuò)張(包括通過(guò)并購(gòu)活動(dòng))。過(guò)去這些機(jī)構(gòu)不得不注冊(cè)為非營(yíng)利性機(jī)構(gòu)，這限制了債務(wù)和股權(quán)融資途徑。過(guò)去6個(gè)月里已經(jīng)有多家機(jī)構(gòu)成功進(jìn)行了首次公開(kāi)發(fā)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(xué)總?cè)藬?shù)計(jì)算，民生教育是中國(guó)十大民辦大學(xué)之一，擁有逾3萬(wàn)名學(xué)生。國(guó)際金融公司(IFC)成為民生教育的基石投資者，獲得2500萬(wàn)美元的股權(quán)。民生教育總部位于擁有3000萬(wàn)人口的重慶。由于這種支持性政策改變，極為分散的民辦教育領(lǐng)域開(kāi)始整合——通過(guò)大型教育集團(tuán)之間的并購(gòu)。

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(shè)定學(xué)費(fèi)方面賦予營(yíng)利性高等教育提供商充分自主權(quán)。就目前而言，中國(guó)政府對(duì)學(xué)費(fèi)有話語(yǔ)權(quán)。新法還增強(qiáng)了營(yíng)利性機(jī)構(gòu)的所有者權(quán)利，賦予它們?cè)趯W(xué)校停止運(yùn)營(yíng)后處置資產(chǎn)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(yíng)利性機(jī)構(gòu)依法派發(fā)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(jī)遇的投資者大多是中國(guó)人。他們的聚焦點(diǎn)往往是發(fā)展學(xué)士學(xué)位課程。在這一領(lǐng)域運(yùn)營(yíng)的外國(guó)投資者比較少，他們往往與中國(guó)的領(lǐng)先公立大學(xué)合作，比如美國(guó)杜克大學(xué)(Duke University)與武漢大學(xué)(Wuhan University)合作在上海設(shè)立一個(gè)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(kuò)大民營(yíng)教育將會(huì)幫助難以進(jìn)入中國(guó)公立大學(xué)的數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的年輕人。盡管公立大學(xué)通常教學(xué)水平高，而且費(fèi)用相對(duì)可承受，但它們往往只招收成績(jī)優(yōu)秀的學(xué)生。相比之下，民辦大學(xué)主要致力于增強(qiáng)學(xué)生的就業(yè)技能，入學(xué)分?jǐn)?shù)線較低，許多學(xué)生來(lái)自中低收入家庭。因此，對(duì)那些學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)不是很優(yōu)秀的學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，民辦大學(xué)是他們實(shí)現(xiàn)學(xué)位抱負(fù)的極好平臺(tái)，讓他們?cè)诟?jìng)爭(zhēng)較高薪資職位時(shí)處于更為有利的地位。

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(guó)出臺(tái)新法的目的是幫助緩解年輕人的失業(yè)狀況，因?yàn)槊褶k大學(xué)的畢業(yè)生往往很快就能找到工作。一些頂尖的民辦大學(xué)，比如西安歐亞大學(xué)(EurAsia University)、民生教育和山東英才學(xué)院(Shandong Yingcai University)，逾90%的學(xué)生在畢業(yè)后兩個(gè)月內(nèi)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(xué)的就業(yè)率很高，因?yàn)樗鼈儗I(yè)教授熱門(mén)技能，比如護(hù)理和老年醫(yī)學(xué)照顧、早教、軟件工程師、建筑施工技術(shù)人員和高端制造業(yè)崗位，以及一些專門(mén)課程，比如鐵路運(yùn)營(yíng)。對(duì)國(guó)際金融公司來(lái)說(shuō)，就業(yè)能力是一個(gè)重要考量，因?yàn)槲覀円獩Q定在哪里投資才能取得最大發(fā)展效果。隨著營(yíng)利性教育行業(yè)在中國(guó)進(jìn)一步發(fā)展，強(qiáng)有力的監(jiān)管和質(zhì)量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)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.

盡管新法已經(jīng)在轉(zhuǎn)變中國(guó)的大學(xué)市場(chǎng)，但不太可能有大量機(jī)構(gòu)從非營(yíng)利轉(zhuǎn)向營(yíng)利性。非營(yíng)利性機(jī)構(gòu)有很多動(dòng)機(jī)維持它們的地位。例如，它們將會(huì)繼續(xù)享受稅收優(yōu)惠，土地價(jià)格也比營(yíng)利性機(jī)構(gòu)便宜。它們還可能繼續(xù)享受某些形式的政府補(bǔ)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(guó)高等教育市場(chǎng)如何演變將會(huì)很有意思。公立大學(xué)將會(huì)繼續(xù)吸引優(yōu)秀學(xué)生，抑或它們會(huì)面臨更為激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)?新的營(yíng)利性機(jī)構(gòu)將會(huì)利用雄厚資本來(lái)提升入學(xué)水平嗎?或許最重要的是，中國(guó)高等教育體系將會(huì)更有能力回應(yīng)勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)不斷變化的需求嗎?我相信它會(huì)的。

Jiadi Yu is a Principal Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group

本文作者是世界銀行(World Bank Group)旗下國(guó)際金融公司(IFC)的首席投資官