Integrated Development of Education, Science and Technology, and Talent: 

    What Should Higher Education Do?

    Li Liguo&Qin Jiali

    Source: China Youth Daily (Page 03,December 21, 2025 )；The Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, explicitly propose to “advance the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent as a whole.” The strategy of integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent clarifies the status, roles, and relationships of education, science and technology, and talent in the building of Chinese modernization. It reflects strategic consideration and forward-looking planning for innovation-driven development from a higher vantage point and within a broader overall framework, and helps realize a route leap that breaks through traditional institutional and mechanism constraints and development models at wider fields and higher levels.We should, based on China’s current stage of development and its development context, deeply understand and grasp the basic connotations and inherent requirements of the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. By deepening comprehensive reform of higher education, we should fully leverage the unique value of higher education as “the most important nexus and concentrated convergence point of science and technology as the primary productive force, innovation as the primary driving force, and talent as the primary resource,” identify the positioning of higher education, and play its role, so as to promote and drive the building of China into an education power, a science and technology power, and a talent power through the high-quality development of higher education, thereby jointly serving Chinese modernization.

Strengthening the Supporting Role of Higher Education in Promoting Economic Growth and Serving Science and Technology and Talent

    Higher education should be oriented toward serving high-quality development and Chinese modernization, fully leverage the advantages of higher education as a talent-intensive sector with concentrated intellectual resources, break out of the “small logic” of its own internal cycle, and integrate into the “big logic” of the national innovation system.During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the main thread of economic and social development is high-quality development. The most important task in promoting high-quality development is to accelerate high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, and actively develop new quality productive forces. Higher education plays an important role in promoting scientific and technological innovation and the growth of innovative talents, and is a key driving force in shifting economic growth from traditional reliance on resource input toward innovation-driven development. To realize national and socioeconomic modernization, we must rely on scientific and technological innovation, and fundamentally on the development of education, science and technology, and talent—especially higher education.

   From international experience, achieving sustainable economic growth requires not only improved economic systems and economic policies, but also placing education in a strategically prioritized position and promoting the takeoff of higher education as the “leading force.” Research finds that in the development process from low-income to middle-income stages, basic education plays an important role; whereas in the development process from middle-income to high-income stages, educational quality rather than educational quantity, higher education rather than basic education, and advanced skill levels rather than basic skill levels play a more important role in successfully crossing the middle-income stage.Before entering the high-income development stage, education mainly promotes economic growth by enhangcing the overall level of population cognitive skills. When economic development enters the high-income stage, the overall level of population cognitive skills has risen to a certain level, and its importance for economic growth declines to some extent, while the structure of population cognitive skills becomes increasingly important. Education mainly promotes economic development by increasing the proportion of high-skilled individuals and improving population skills.

    Countries trapped in the middle-income trap share a common point: their education, especially higher education, cannot adapt to the level of socioeconomic development. Not only is it unable to contribute to socioeconomic development, it may even produce side effects. For China to realize high-quality development and Chinese modernization, it must attach importance to the high-quality development of education. On the basis of universalizing compulsory education and upper secondary education, it must emphasize adjusting the structure of higher education and improving its quality, reform and develop the higher education system from the perspective of national economic and social development and of industrial and economic structures, rather than treating higher education as an isolated system and letting it evolve on its own.

Adapting to the Path of Education Development for a Major Country and the New Development Paradigm

    We must build a self-reliant and excellent higher education system, and establish a high-quality higher education development layout that is compatible with socioeconomic development and national strategies.Scientific and technological innovation is the key and leading factor of high-quality development. Then, how can scientific and technological innovation be achieved? Some countries rely on foreign technological assistance or primarily introduce technologies from abroad; some countries attract talent from abroad, or have a relatively high proportion of international students in their higher education. China’s proposal of integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent is based on the fact that China is a major country in population and economy, with a complete industrial system, and is also grounded in the inherent needs for talent and science and technology under the new development paradigm featuring the domestic cycle as the mainstay and the domestic and international cycles reinforcing each other.

    As a major country, China’s demand for talent in quantity, quality, and structure is comprehensive. Meeting such huge talent demand must primarily rely on self-cultivation and the improvement of independent and controllable capacity in talent supply. Universities, especially “Double First-Class” universities, should actively play the role of the main force in basic research and a source of major scientific and technological breakthroughs, plan innovation in dependent and controllable in an all-round manner, break with convention, innovate models, and attach greater importance to scientific spirit and innovation capability.China has the world’s largest higher education system and a broad stage for the development of all undertakings, and is fully capable of cultivating talents at all levels and of all types to serve national strategies and Chinese modernization.

 Strengthening the Match Between Higher Education Disciplines and Programs and National Strategies and Industrial Needs

    Reform of higher education must be coordinated with the development of modern science and technology, incorporate the latest achievements of modern science and technology into the education system, enable education to accommodate the content of scientific and technological development, and adapt to new trends in scientific and technological development.Every scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution brings about tremendous changes in educational forms and educational systems. Only when educational reform embraces the technological tide and transforms scientific and technological achievements into educational content and methods can it cultivate talents that meet the needs of the era.

    With regard to China’s current education, it is necessary to optimize the structure of disciplines and programs, and moderately strengthen the cultivation of science, engineering, and skilled talents. In recent years, China has increased efforts to adjust disciplines and programs, with the proportions of science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine enrollments at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels reaching over 50%, 60%, and 80% respectively. Disciplines and programs in strategically urgently needed fields have been accelerated in their layout. These measures provide a future talent reserve assurance for scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading.

Strengthening the Collaborative Talent Cultivation Mechanism with Industries and Enterprises

    Talent cultivation and scientific research in higher education institutions need to be integrated into the national innovation system, and realize their due functions in the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. The Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development require to “establish and improve an integrated coordination mechanism, strengthen planning alignment, policy coordination, resource coordination, and evaluation linkage, and promote a virtuous interaction between independent scientific and technological innovation and independent talent cultivation.” Talent cultivation in higher education must closely coordinate with independent scientific and technological innovation, so as to realize a virtuous interaction between the two.

Talent cultivation is no longer merely an internal matter of universities; it must be based on socioeconomic development and scientific and technological progress, optimize talent cultivation objectives and talent cultivation models, and realize talent cultivation reform through the integration of science and education, the integration of industry and education, and university–enterprise cooperation. It is necessary to “collaboratively cultivate talents around scientific and technological innovation, industrial development, and national strategic needs.” Industries, enterprises, and relevant social departments and institutions should undertake the mission and responsibilities of talent cultivation, “strengthen the functions of scientific research institutions, innovation platforms, enterprises, and science and technology plan systems in gathering and cultivating talents, and cultivate top innovative talents.”