SCHOOL‑ENTERPRISE COOPERATION IN CHINESE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

Abstract

School-enterprise cooperation is central to modernizing vocational education in China. In recent decades national policies have encouraged enterprises to develop curriculum, practical training, apprenticeships, teacher development, talent cultivation governance (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China et al. 2018). But these policies have not always resulted in meaningful education-focused cooperation. Many partnerships are superficial, ceremonial, project-oriented partnerships with no real impact in institutions. This narrative review, from the perspective of educational administration, uses collaborative governance theory as the main analytical framework with boundary-crossing and workplace-learning theories. It summarizes domestic Chinese and international literature. First, the main concepts of school-enterprise cooperation and industry-education integration are clarified. Then, four persistent problems are: mismatched incentives and unclear responsibilities, weak cross-organizational coordination, poor integration of formal curricula and workplace learning and significant differences in institutional and regional implementation capacities. The paper argues that the quality of school-enterprise cooperation should be measured by educational outcomes rather than quantitative metrics like memoranda, training bases or corporate partnerships. Five administrative strategies tailored for the context of China are proposed: institutionalized co-governance frameworks with balanced incentives, development intermediary organizations while considering regional differences, jointly designed curricula and assessments, shared professional development for teachers and mentors, and student-focused quality assurance mechanisms for transferability. Sustainable cooperation requires shared responsibility between government agencies, vocational schools, enterprises and industry associations, with focus on student learning and long-term career adaptability.