Guangdong province expanded the opening-up of its educational sector to the outside world during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), a senior provincial educational official said at a news conference in Guangzhou on Wednesday.

Lin Rupeng, director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education, detailed the province's progress at the conference. He said that during the previous five years, cooperation and exchanges in education within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area were strengthened, and China-foreign cooperation institutions saw steady growth.

"As of now, Guangdong has registered a total of 48 Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs at the undergraduate and above level," said Lin.

Three higher education institutions from Macao, including the University of Macao, have obtained approval from the Ministry of Education to extend their operations in the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.

Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University became the first mainland university to establish a scientific research and teaching institution in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2024 with the Institute of Advanced Studies Hong Kong.

Guangdong initiated and established 22 Lingnan Artisan Polytechnic projects, and supported 35 vocational colleges in launching 93 school-running programs in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The province also fostered the "Study in China · Learn in Guangdong" brand by registering 105 of its universities to enroll international students. The number of non-Chinese students studying in Guangdong has reached more than 20,000.

An additional 12 schools for students from Hong Kong and Macao were also established. About 110,000 students from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan are now studying in kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools across the province.

Moreover, 76 Guangdong universities have obtained the qualification to enroll students from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, with approximately 22,000 such students pursuing their studies in the province.