UK’s Benenden School, once attended by Princess Anne, to open its first Chinese campus in Guangzhou in 2023

Benenden School in Kent, England, aims to open a campus for 1,500 students in the Panyu district of Guangzhou in southern China in late 2023

Move comes as many independent schools mull opening overseas branches as the pandemic keeps fee-paying foreign students away

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Benenden School for girls in Kent, UK, charges £13,100 a term. The campus in China will cater for boys and girls. Photo: FACEBOOK.

Published: 5:56pm, 6 Jan 2021Updated: 10:43pm, 6 Jan 2021

A British boarding school once attended by the Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, is to open its first campus in mainland China after teaming up with an education group based in Hong Kong.

Benenden School in Kent, England, aims to open a campus for 1,500 students in the Panyu district of Guangzhou in southern China in late 2023, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

The independent school, that charges £13,100 (US$17,862) per term at home, has partnered with CTF Education Group, a unit of Chow Tai Fook Group and has big plans for expansion. Although its school in the UK caters purely for girls, the new facility in China will be open to both sexes.

“The group will invest over HK$3 billion (US$390 million) in the next few years in upcoming education projects in Hong Kong and Greater China,” said CTF Education vice-chairman and group chief executive officer Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, announcing the venture.

Cheng is also executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer of New World Development, a major Hong Kong property developer. Chow Tai Fook is ultimately controlled by the Cheng family.

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