21.10.2024 China to boost talent pool in science and technology with ‘world-class’ doctoral training

Authorities pledge to increase financial and policy support in key areas including medicine, engineering and emerging technologies.

Beijing is moving to boost the country’s talent ranks in the fields of science and technology by creating more doctoral programmes in key areas such as medicine, engineering and emerging fields. The State Council – China’s cabinet – and the Communist Party’s Central Committee issued guidelines on Sunday calling on education authorities and universities to “deepen the comprehensive reform of doctoral education”, according to state news agency Xinhua. The report said the document, which has not yet been published in full, calls for the creation of a “world-class doctoral education system with Chinese characteristics”, and for China to become “an important hub of doctoral education in the world”. The guidelines urge Chinese universities to restructure their programmes to improve education curriculums in basic disciplines, including science, engineering, agriculture and medicine, and to increase the proportion of doctoral programmes among all degree programmes.
 
Chinese universities should also “speed up the construction of disciplines in key areas” and “cultivate national strategic talent and talent in short supply”, the document said. The document has also pledged more investment in doctoral education and establish a “stable support system”, with financial and policy backing, though no further details were provided. Beijing is driving efforts to increase China’s self-reliance in hi-tech and other cutting-edge fields as technological competition with the United States escalates in areas such as semiconductors, quantum technology and artificial intelligence. Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he wants China to “cultivate a large, well-structured and well-educated teams of innovative talent” over the next five years. Other senior officials have repeated the calls, stressing the urgency of nurturing hi-tech talent. During a visit to the southeastern hi-tech hub of Hefei last week, Xi reiterated that science and technology should lead China’s modernisation process. As of last year, 612,500 students were pursuing doctoral degrees in China, according to China’s ministry of education, which expected the number to increase this year. In August, the ministry released its latest review of qualifications for degree authorisations, which showed that 349 universities had been approved for a total of 831 new doctoral programmes, most of which were in science and engineering majors.

Source: South China Morning Post