A . even without international linksB . Chinese students and academicsC . the crisis on economic growthD . A strong research systemE . in part because of thisEducation and academic quality can mean different things to different people , depending on their perspective , role and context and , (), quality is notoriously difficult to evaluate .The question of how to do this has been pursued for many years .Nevertheless , the goal of improving educational quality is agreed by al and stimulated further by the recent worldwide economic downturn and the need to cOunteract the impact of ()and prepare for economic recovery .As the World Bank and UNESCO said 10 years ago :“ The quality of knowledge generated within higher education institutions , and its availability to the wider economy , is becoming increasingly critical to national competitiveness .” They also rightly emphasized that()at the national level opens up the possibility that substantial additional public benefits can be realized through international links .”This is precisely why ()should contribute to these global benefits , reforming and improving evaluation systems for educational and academic quality . Original and good research , especialy in science , economics and social sciences , has a trickle - down efect on society . And it offers additional benefits ()though international colaboration and exchange of the best evaluation policy and practice can bring substantial advantages to al partners in relation to lessons learned elsewhere .