Abstract

International trade in educational services has grown substantially over the past decades. Now it is a billion dollar industry including recruitment of international students, establishment of university campuses abroad, franchised provision and on line education. WTO requires each member nation to make its own schedule of commitments in education services, and to explain its limitations on market access and national treatment as well as other limitations. In the schedules of commitments, commitments are split into two sections: First, “horizontal” commitments which stipulate limitations that apply to all of the sectors included in the schedule; these often refer to a particular mode of supply, notably commercial presence and the presence of natural persons. Any evaluation of sector-specific commitments must therefore take the horizontal entries into account. Second, specific commitments which apply to trade in services in a particular sector or subsector are listed. This paper examines China’s commitments in education services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It provides rough pictures about the impact of China’s commitments on its education services.

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