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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Brand Hong Kong - Asia world city

Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)

Education Services

Liberalisation Measures under CEPA

The Agreement on Trade in Services covers and consolidates commitments relating to liberalisation of trade in services provided in CEPA and its Supplements and also the Agreement between the Mainland and Hong Kong on Achieving Basic Liberalisation of Trade in Services in Guangdong. 
 
Agreement on Trade in Services
Liberalisation Measures under Cross-border Services (Positive List)
Sectors or Sub-sectors
  • 5. Education services
    • C. Higher education services (CPC923)
Specific commitments
  1. To allow Guangdong Province to implement the admission of Hong Kong students to regular higher education institutions in the province.
  2. To allow Hong Kong institutions fulfilling the conditions required for recruiting students in the Mainland to increase the student quota for admitting Mainland students and to actively increase the quota for admitting Mainland students from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, provided that the institutions comply with the requirements for recruiting students in the Mainland.
Reserved Restrictive Measures under Commercial Presence (Negative List)
Sector
  • 5. Education Services
Sub-sector
    • A. Primary education services (CPC921)
Obligations concerned
National Treatment
Reserved Restrictive
Measures
Commercial Presence
  1. The setting up of schools and other education institutions mainly admitting Chinese citizens of the Mainland is restricted to cooperation on a contractual basis.
  2. Not to invest in the establishment of education institutions providing compulsory education and religious education.
For clarity and avoidance of doubt, for schools set up on a wholly-owned basis for the children of foreign nationals in the Guangdong Province, admission may be extended to cover the children of overseas Chinese and talents who returned from studies abroad working in Guangdong, in addition to the children of foreign nationals who hold residence permits in the Mainland.
 
Sector
  • 5. Education Services
Sub-sector
    • B. Secondary education services (CPC922)
Obligations concerned
National Treatment
Reserved Restrictive
Measures
Commercial Presence
  1. The setting up of schools and other education institutions mainly admitting Chinese citizens of the Mainland is restricted to cooperation on a contractual basis.1
  2. Not to invest in the establishment of education institutions providing compulsory education and religious education.
For clarity and avoidance of doubt, for schools set up on a wholly-owned basis for the children of foreign nationals in the Guangdong Province, admission may be extended to cover the children of overseas Chinese and talents who returned from studies abroad working in Guangdong, in addition to the children of foreign nationals who hold residence permits in the Mainland.
 
Sector
  • 5. Education Services
Sub-sector
    • C. Higher education services (CPC923)
Obligations concerned
National Treatment
Reserved Restrictive
Measures
Commercial Presence
  1. The setting up of schools and other education institutions mainly admitting Chinese citizens of the Mainland is restricted to cooperation on a contractual basis.2
  2. Not to invest in the establishment of education institutions providing religious education.
Sector
  • 5. Education Services
Sub-sector
    • D. Adult education (CPC924)
Obligations concerned
National Treatment
Reserved Restrictive
Measures
Commercial Presence
Not to invest in the establishment of education institutions providing religious education.
 
Sector
  • 5. Education Services
Sub-sector
    • E. Other education services (CPC929)
Obligations concerned
National Treatment
Reserved Restrictive
Measures
Commercial Presence
Not to invest in the establishment of education institutions providing religious education.

1 To allow establishment of non-academic secondary vocational training institutions on a wholly-owned basis in the Mainland, the scope of admission shall be analogous with that for Mainland vocational training institutions.
2 To allow establishment of non-academic tertiary vocational training institutions on a wholly-owned basis in the Mainland, the scope of admission shall be analogous with that for Mainland vocational training institutions.

For details about the cooperation in education under the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation (Ecotech Agreement), please refer to the Ecotech Agreement.