People—centered Partnerships

“Enhancing people-centered ‘soft’ investment within ASEAN in the future， especially in the two key areas of education and technology， will， to some extent， be more important than ‘hard’ investment in fields like infrastructure and energy，” stressed Dr. AKP Mochtan， ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General for Community and Corporate Affairs. He added that people of ASEAN member states， particularly young people， should be fully prepared for the opportunities and challenges that arise from globalization.

The ASEAN Secretariat has made “people-oriented development” the primary intention and foothold of its development goals and considers improving people’s wellbeing the top priority of ASEAN integration. For instance， since its establishment， the ASEAN Economic Community has attached great importance to training skilled workers for the purpose of reducing poverty and increasing incomes through concerted efforts.

Importance of Education

ASEAN values the future of its young people. “People-centered cooperation with talent cultivation as the focus” between China and ASEAN has drawn wide attention. More noticeably， education has become a highlighted aspect of such cooperation. The two sides have held an education exchange week each year for the past nine years， and signed nearly 800 cooperative agreements. According to the ASEAN Secretariat， the number of students from ASEAN countries in China exceeded 80，000 in 2016， an increase of around 30，000 compared to 2010. More and more young people from Southeast Asia have chosen to study in China.

Propelled by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko Widodo， China and Indonesia have aligned their respective development initiatives — the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and the Global Maritime Axis. Under both initiatives， education cooperation is a key aspect of people-to-people connectivity. Currently， China is the second most favored destination for Indonesian students abroad， and there are 14，000 Indonesians studying in Chinese colleges and universities.

The majority of students at Warlgklaikangwon School， a royal private school in Thailand， are from poverty-stricken families. There， every high-school student is required to choose one of five foreign languages for study. About 40 percent of the students choose Chinese， and the ratio is growing with each passing year. All of the students who choose to study Chinese aspire to earn scholarships to study in China.

To help more youngsters in ASEAN countries realize their educational goals， the Chinese government has increased investment in government scholarships， which favor applicants from China’s neighboring countries and the Belt and Road countries. In addition to state scholarships， foreign students can also apply for scholarships set up by local governments and schools， such as the Confucius Institute Scholarship. Chinese provinces and autonomous regions including Guizhou and Guangxi have even set up scholarships specially designed for students from ASEAN member states and offer favorable study and living environments to them.

Some Chinese colleges and universities take measures to reduce or eliminate tuition for students from ASEAN countries. Since 2008， more than 20 students from Warlgklaikangwon School have come to China for study with the help of the Confucius Institute Scholarship. Students in countries like Laos， Cambodia， Myanmar and Malaysia have also benefited from scholarships.

Moreover， China lends a hand to ASEAN countries in training native talents to facilitate local development and cooperation between China and ASEAN. This is another highlight in bilateral education cooperation. The first overseas branch of a key Chinese university， Xiamen University Malaysia， was launched in 2013 and welcomed its first group of ASEAN students in February 2016. The university became a flagship project in China-Malaysia education cooperation. Wang Ruifang， president of Xiamen University Malaysia， notes that the university will help Malaysia become a regional center of higher education and cultivate cross-cultural talents both for China and various countries along the Belt and Road.

Creating Jobs

The ultimate goal of China-ASEAN education cooperation lies in promoting employment， a critical issue concerning mankind’s sustainable development. So far， China has signed agreements on mutual recognition of academic degrees with Thailand and Malaysia， and relevant negotiations with other ASEAN countries such as Indonesia are progressing. All of these efforts have laid an institutional foundation for employment cooperation between China and ASEAN.

“I strongly recommend you visit our education base，” notes Wen Kan， vice general manager of Gree Indonesia. “It focuses on offering training for qualified Indonesian youngsters， who may directly enter our company after graduation.”

In 2016， Gree， a Chinese household appliance giant， and a language college in Kota Pontianak， the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan， worked together to launch a cooperative project on talent training. The college is Indonesia’s only higher learning institution offering both four-year undergraduate Chinese education programs and three-year college-level Chinese education programs. Chen Huizhen， president of the college， is confident about the students’ future employment prospects.

“The Belt and Road Initiative is a grand development plan of global influence， and its construction needs a huge amount of local talent proficient in the Chinese language，” Chen said. “Our college’s first group of undergraduate students will graduate in 2020. The majority of them will seek jobs in Chinese companies in Indonesia and become skilled professionals such as translators and clerks in various fields to promote cooperation between China and Indonesia.”

Gree isn’t the only enterprise that has taken action. In recent years， a number of Chinese companies investing abroad， including Huawei and Xiaomi， have realized that increasing investment in and support for the training of local talent is a necessary part of establishing localized operations， as well as an important way for China to help ASEAN countries achieve their sustainable development goals.

The Indonesian government has focused on developing remote islands and border areas such as the Moluccas， North Sulawesi and East Kalimantan. Although many of those places lack basic infrastructure and cannot guarantee 24-hour daily electricity， shops and repair centers for the Chinese mobile phone brand OPPO are commonplace. All of the employees of such shops are native to the area.

When it was first founded， OPPO Indonesia had fewer than 10 employees. Now， it has developed into a mobile phone maker integrating a Chinese brand and Indonesian mass manufacturing， with tens of thousands of Indonesian employees. According to Liu Bin， the company’s general manager， all of their employees are Indonesian， apart from a handful of senior executives and engineers.

“Increasing investment in the localization of human resources is not only helpful for Chinese companies to take root and achieve long-term development in Indonesia， but can also enhance mutual learning and understanding between the peoples of the two countries，” Liu remarks.

As they grow and invest in other parts of the world， Chinese companies are paving a successful path for China and its global partners to build a future of shared prosperity.