Why China’s universities are world-class

– Sudheendra Kulkarni, former aide of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1999-2004) and currently founder, Forum for South Asia The most decisive factor driving the quality of higher education, basic research, and its application in industry, agriculture and services is the unstinted support universities receive from the highest level of Chinese leadership In June last year I was invited by Tsinghua University, Beijing to give a talk on India-China civilisational relations. Together with Peking University, it is one of two top Chinese varsities ranked #16 in the Times Higher Education’s Top 200 World University Rankings 2023. During this sojourn Schwarzman College set in Tsinghua’s scenic campus caught my attention. I learned that it was established by Stephen Schwarzman, founder of Blackstone, one of the world’s largest private equity firms that manages assets valued at $1 trillion. The renowned American businessman made a personal gift of $100 million to endow the Schwarzman Scholars programme, inspired by the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships funded by British colonialist Cecil Rhodes. It supports 200 students from around the world annually for a one-year Master’s programme. Known as ‘China’s Harvard’, Tsinghua also boasts other American connections. Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella and Elon Musk have been members of the advisory board of its business school, one of the best worldwide. The incumbent chairman of its board is Apple CEO Tim Cook. Like other world-class universities in China, Tsinghua is founded, funded and managed by the central government. Therefore, two questions arose in my mind. First, why hasn’t a single public university in India received such global recognition? Second, why are captains of American business so generously giving their time and money to Chinese universities, despite the US engaged in a fierce trade war with China, having restricted all hi-tech exports to Chinese companies? The answer to the first question is simple. Most public universities in India, especially those run by states, are engaged in a race to mediocrity. IITs, IIMs and a few Central universities are exceptions. However, the Indian government has shown no interest in internationalising them by attracting foreign students and faculty in large numbers, or by inviting eminent foreigners to join their advisory boards. The second question is best answered by Schwarzman himself. Explaining why he chose a Chinese university for his philanthropic munificence, he said, “Those who will lead the world must understand China today.” Leading American companies know that China is not only a large market for their products, but also a manufacturer of hi-tech products with growing share of world markets. Take, for example, DJI, Huawei and BYD, whose headquarters in Shenzhen I visited. DJI is the world’s largest drones manufacturer with more than 50 percent of global market share. Huawei is the world’s largest provider of telecommunications equipment, and a tough competitor to Apple and Samsung in smartphones. In 2011, Elon Musk had scoffed at the idea of BYD (which stands for ‘Build Your Dreams’) ever competing with Tesla. Today, the Chinese carmaker is driving towards becoming the world’s #1 electronic…