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Education in China
ChinaPolitics

The universities and disciplines China aims to turn into world-beaters

  • Plan from education and finance ministries lists 147 universities and 331 disciplines intended to reach ‘first-class’ standard
  • The aim is for more Chinese institutions and specialisms to rank among the world’s best by 2030, and the country to be a global education power by 2035

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The Chinese government has outlined plans to push further education institutions to join the global elite. Photo: Xinhua
Holly Chik
China has revealed expanded plans to lift its universities to world-class level and nurture a wide range of disciplines as part of its push to create a higher education sector to support the country’s economic development.

The plan issued on Monday listed 147 universities and more than 300 of their disciplines, from science and engineering to social sciences, that it said should be developed to become “first-class”.

It is meant to catapult more Chinese universities and disciplines to the top by 2030, and was released by the education and finance ministries along with the government’s economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission.

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The ministries said the goals were to develop top talent for the country, boost China’s competitiveness internationally, serve national strategic needs and encourage cross-disciplinary research, with the government set to increase investment in scientific and new cross-disciplinary subjects.

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The plan is part of China’s vision to become a global education power by 2035. Last year, the Education Ministry designated 12 top universities to establish new faculties focused on building the country’s advantage in frontier technologies, at a time when it faces increasing trade and technology pressures from the United States.
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“The task of building world-class universities with Chinese characteristics and bringing up the overall level of higher education is still very arduous,” read a question and answer document accompanying the announcement.

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