Academic Mobility in the Higher Education System of the People's Republic of China (2010-2020s): Legal Framework and Organizational Features

Academic Mobility in the Higher Education System of the People's Republic of China (2010-2020s): Legal Framework and Organizational Features The purpose of this study is to identify the main trends in the development of the PRC legal base regulating international exchanges, as well as to characterize the features of university mobility in the period from 2010 to 2020. The relevance of the study is caused by the insufficient study of the impact of the legal base on the organization of academic mobility at the level of higher education institutions, despite the presence of a significant number of studies on internationalization of education and international exchanges in the PRC. To achieve the purpose of this study we analyzed laws, regulatory documents of the PRC government, international agreements, reports of the Ministry of Education of the PRC, news articles and statistical data from official state websites, as well as from the websites and social networks of higher education institutions. The main findings of the study show that government policies aimed to promote academic mobility and internationalization of education had significant results until the COVID-19 pandemic, and HEIs played a key role in the implementation of government policies. Keywords: PRC, international academic mobility, higher education, government policies, legal and regulatory basis