In order to strengthen Jiangsu UK strategic partnership, Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education(JPDE) signed A Tripartite Memorandum of Cooperation on Higher Education in September 2016 with British Council(BC) and Universities UK International(UUKi). 

At the 5th Meeting of the China-UK High-Level People-to-People Dialogue held in London in December 2017, chaired by Jeremy Hunt, UK's Secretary of State for Health and Liu Yandong, vice premier of China's State Council, UK and China signed the Protocol of UK-Jiangsu 20+20 World-Class University Initiative.

After multiple communications between JPDE, BC and UUKi, Jiangsu-UK World-Class University Consortium was launched on April 9th 2019 in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu.