CHINA has issued a three-year action plan to optimize university majors in response to an accelerated technological revolution and industrial transformation, aiming to cultivate more high-level, innovative and interdisciplinary talent.

The plan calls on Chinese universities to introduce new programs aligned with strategic emerging and future industries, to launch interdisciplinary incubation initiatives, and to establish model interdisciplinary research centers, according to a document released by the education authorities.

It also stresses the need to optimize existing disciplines: programs with low social demand, declining educational quality or insufficient teaching resources may receive official warnings and be required to make rectifications.

Many universities had already begun reforming their offerings before the new document was issued in order to better align with the needs of emerging and future industries.

Since February 2023, Chinese universities have added 3,229 new undergraduate programs and cancelled 2,534 older ones, data from MyCOS Research Institute, a third‑party education consultancy, show. Engineering saw the most change, with 1,395 new programs introduced and 823 discontinued.

“The future direction of science and technology is still hard to predict and may not be what we expect today,” said Ding Kuiling, president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). “The disciplinary structure of higher education institutions must adapt to the future of technology, undergoing corresponding adjustments and reshaping.”

SJTU has set up the Global Institute of Future Technology to pilot innovations in interdisciplinary programs and talent‑training models, Ding said. The institute allows students to combine disciplines to craft individualized study plans — for example, “electrochemistry + materials” or “artificial intelligence + biology.”

A mechanical engineering professor at another C9 League university said an increasing number of students are choosing interdisciplinary pathways, such as AI, after completing undergraduate degrees in order to pursue broader and more diverse career opportunities.

The C9 League is an alliance of nine prestigious public Chinese universities. It comprises Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Nanjing University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Science and Technology of China, Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Zhejiang University.

(SD-Agencies)