From Campus to Industry: Human Capital Development through China-Malaysia Educational Cooperation Initiatives

Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has pursued diverse development projects in Malaysia. Educational initiatives have become a significant component of this International Development Cooperation (IDC). As emerging tools of foreign policy, educational cooperation initiatives promote knowledge sharing and technology transfer, which benefits human capital development and enhances a country’s capacity for sustainable economic growth. With the deepening of relations between China and Malaysia, it is worth investigating the educational cooperation initiatives between the two countries. This article therefore traces their educational ties and utilizes two representative case studies (in both higher education and TVET cooperation) to discuss how these initiatives promote local human capital development (HCD), while also examining how China reshapes its development image and strengthens its soft power through them.