BEIJING -- The total international joint-venture learning institutions and programs in China came in at 2,332 as of the end of 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) said Tuesday.

Among them, 1,230 joint ventures offer higher education, said Liu Jin, head of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges under the MOE.

Between 2016 and 2020, 580 schools and programs jointly run by Chinese and overseas institutions have been approved and put on records by the ministry, including 356 joint-venture universities.

Chinese institutions of higher learning have become vital partners of world-class universities, with an enrollment of more than 300,000 students at the joint ventures on the Chinese mainland, Liu said.