Experts say the termination of over 200 Chinese-foreign run education institutions and programs could work as an incentive to improve the quality of such education, according to Thursday's People's Daily.

A circular issued by the Ministry of Education in July said that 234 Chinese-foreign run education institutions and programs for undergraduate education and above had been terminated, including five institutions and 229 programs.

The closures were due to factors including insufficient high-quality foreign education resources, low-quality teaching and lack of academic competence, which failed to satisfy and attract the students, the statement said.

"These institutions and programs couldn't meet the demands for high-quality education in the new era," said Wang Qicai, associate professor at Shanghai Normal University, noting that the closures could be an incentive.

"The termination helps bring in high-quality education resources," said Zhao Yanzhi, vice president of Dongbei University of Finance & Economics. "A good exit mechanism is an important link in the supervision over the quality of education, and ensures the healthy development of the Sino-foreign cooperatively run institutions."

A number of experts believe that the move would help protect the rights and interests of students, and ensure education providers operate in accordance with the law.

There are nearly 450,000 students currently attending Chinese-foreign run schools, and about 1.5 million have graduated from them, according to the ministry.

As of June, there are 2,342 cooperatively run education institutions and programs in China, of which 1,090 are for undergraduate education and above.

"China will continue to improve the exit mechanism to promote the quality and efficiency of these education institutes," the ministry said.