Chinese Universities Expand Overseas with New Uzbekistan

Liaoning Normal University has opened a new branch campus in Khiva, Uzbekistan, in partnership with the Uzbek government and Urgench State University. The campus, announced in August, is designed for 2,000 students and received $11.8 million in funding from Uzbekistan's government.

This development highlights a less-discussed side of transnational education: Chinese universities expanding their own physical presence overseas. While much attention focuses on foreign institutions entering China, Chinese universities are increasingly establishing programs and campuses abroad, particularly in Central Asia.

A Strategic Campus in Khiva

The new Khiva campus will offer programs in tourism management, international business, artificial intelligence, and Chinese language and culture. Its location outside Uzbekistan's main higher education hubs is significant. The source notes it extends the transnational education model beyond the country's primary centers while introducing a Chinese university to the region.

Uzbekistan has rapidly increased its number of international higher education institutions. The country now hosts the world's third-largest concentration of international branch campuses, after China and the UAE. Official 2026 data records 35 foreign institutions operating there from countries including South Korea, India, Russia, and the UK.

China's Growing Footprint in Central Asia

The Khiva campus is not an isolated project. It forms part of a small but growing network of Chinese university campuses overseas. Neighbouring Kazakhstan has pursued a similar strategy, attracting international universities to expand its own higher education system.

Several joint institutions between Chinese and Kazakh universities have been established. These include Beijing Language and Culture University's campus in Astana, opened in 2024, and Northwestern Polytechnical University's branch in Almaty, opened in 2023. This institutional growth is accompanied by student mobility, with around 20,000 Kazakhstani students studying in China as of 2025.

Chinese-led transnational education currently takes different forms. Comprehensive branch campuses, like Xiamen University Malaysia which opened in 2015, are one model. A more common approach, however, is the embedded campus within a local partner institution, as seen in Kazakhstan.

Linking Education to Economic Development

The expansion is occurring alongside a rapid increase in Chinese investment across Central Asia, particularly in energy and infrastructure under the Belt and Road Initiative. The source states that in Uzbekistan's Khorezm region, where the Khiva campus is located, there are 38 major Chinese-backed projects worth a combined $2.343 billion.

This creates demand for skilled professionals with technical expertise and Chinese language ability, a need the new campus is positioned to fill. Another planned project, Xi'an Shiyou University's China-Uzbekistan Petroleum University, further illustrates this link. It is being developed with an Uzbek university and the local subsidiary of Chinese state-owned energy company China Datang Corporation.

Chinese universities historically operated within a highly centralised, state-directed system. Recent changes have granted them greater autonomy in international collaboration. The result, according to the source, is a system with strong government oversight where alignment with national goals remains important, but universities have more freedom in how they pursue those goals abroad.

As this model develops, Chinese universities are becoming part of wider economic relationships. The source concludes that this creates a form of transnational education closely connected to countries where China has established commercial and strategic interests, making intra-Asian education flows an increasingly important part of the global landscape.