As China’s President Xi Jinping is paying a three-day State visit to Finland until today, the world is turning its attention to how the two countries work closer with each other.
A Finnish startup active in Shenzhen and Hong Kong told the Shenzhen Daily that education is one of the most effective ways to boost ties between China and Finland as higher education institutions are focused on attracting more international students to study in Finland.
Tuomas Kauppinen, board chair and one of the founders of the startup, Edunation, said that they are aiming to bring 100,000 full-degree students from non-EU/EEA countries to enroll in Finnish higher education by the year 2020. China is one of the startup’s main target markets.
“We are now negotiating with many top universities in Finland and through our service, Chinese students will have the option to choose Finnish universities other than going to the heated destinations like the United States or the U.K.,” said Kauppinen.
The startup will launch its website and start offering services next month. They believe that with their service, students will be able to directly connect to Finnish universities and find easier pathways.
Apart from the website, the main channels that the startup is using to attract students are social media platforms in Asia. For instance, the startup turned to WeChat, which boasts 800 million users, to promote their service.
According to Kauppinen, Peter Vesterbacka of the Angry Birds gaming company Rovio has agreed to be the startup’s adviser.
Vesterbacka has been a strong proponent of Finnish education. In an interview with a Finish newspaper, Kauppalehti, Vesterbacka said that the potential money that many foreign students could pay in study fees and living expenses would surpass the costs of running Finland’s institutes of higher education every year.
“We need to boldly tell people what a great place Finland is, and make Finland the best place to study in the world,” said Vesterbacka.
Kauppinen said that the application and visa processes for foreign students must also be made easier if the project is to succeed. “The Finnish entrance exam system is unique in the world, and can be an obstacle for many,” said Kauppinen.
It was stated in a newsletter published in 2013 by Academic Cooperation Association, a Brussels-based association focused on European education, that the number of foreign degree students is growing faster than other forms of student mobility in Finland. Finnish higher education institutions had almost 20,000 foreign degree students in 2012, which was twice as many as 10 years ago.
A working group set up by the Finnish Minister of Education and Science has proposed a national action plan to promote education exports. The working group proposed that a goal be set to increase the number of foreign degree students at Finnish universities and polytechnics to at least 60,000 by 2025.
