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7th February 2019

Educating Billions: Wild Search roundtable on UK education in China with KWM

Wild Search celebrated Chinese New Year by organising an event with leading international law firm King & Wood Mallesons.

A roundtable discussion was held on exporting UK education to China. Attendees included schools who have had great success in entering the Chinese market, those considering taking this step, as well as other education businesses.

Some key points that emerged include:

Identifying, accessing and assessing potential Chinese partners was cited as a significant challenge in building plans to establish education businesses in China. Due diligence, good dialogue and building a strong relationship with the investor/ partner were said to be necessary.
Retaining the brand is critical and regularly visiting the schools/ offices is important. However, it could also be that having some flexibility with the brand, to allow it to be successful in the local context could be considered. Registering your trademark is essential and cheap (though litigation costs can still be high).

For schools, it is important to have the support of the governors, before moving ahead with discussions related to a presence in China.