# China higher education expansion and globalization > Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/china-higher-education-expansion-and-globalization > Updated: 2026-09-26T05:00:09.000Z. Sources: 6. Developments: 2. China is implementing strategic expansions and experiencing growth within its higher education sector. As part of the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan,” the Ministry of Education announced plans to increase undergraduate enrollment at “Double First-Class” universities by 76,000 students between 2027 and 2030. This initiative focuses on “structural optimization and quality improvement,” prioritizing fields such as artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, biomedicine, and new energy to meet national strategic needs. To support this expansion, the government plans to use central budget investments and special treasury bonds for campus construction and facility improvements. Broadly, the sector shows significant scale, with approximately 49 million students across more than 3,100 institutions as of 2025. The global standing of Chinese academia is rising, evidenced by six mainland universities ranking in the top 100 of the 2027 QS rankings. Additionally, the sector is characterized by increasing globalization; while hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens study abroad, hundreds of thousands of international students are also enrolling in Chinese universities for disciplines such as medicine, engineering, and economics. ## Timeline ### 2026-09-26: China's higher education sector expands global reach China's higher education system is expanding globally, with 49 million students and six universities ranked in the world's top 100. International interest is growing in medicine and engineering. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/chinas-higher-education-sector-expands-global-reach ### 2026-09-22: China to expand Double First-Class university enrollment by 76,000 China plans to expand undergraduate enrollment at “Double First-Class” universities by 76,000 students between 2027 and 2030, focusing on strategic fields like AI and biomedicine. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/china-to-expand-double-first-class-university-enrollment-by-76000 --- Cite as: China higher education expansion and globalization. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/china-higher-education-expansion-and-globalization