US-Sino Joint Education Ventures in China: A Stakeholder Analysis of Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Duke Kunshan University, and Schwarzman Scholars

Elite US-Sino joint education ventures in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have brought together diverse stakeholders to create a learning environment that supports innovation in the context of China’s transformation to a service-based economy. These diverse stakeholders include: university administration, faculty, and students; government agencies; and industry. Theories of strategical alliances are useful in understanding how these stakeholders interact and influence these institutions during their establishment. Important insights can be learned about how to build successful cross-border education partnerships in a complex social environment. Three descriptive case studies were conducted through in-depth interviews, site visits, and official documentation. The first case is the Hopkins-Nanjing Center at Nanjing University—the first US-Sino venture established in 1986. The second case is Duke Kunshan University, and the third case is the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University, heralded as the Rhodes Scholarship of China.