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Speakers:

Mr. Huai Jinpeng, minister of education

Mr. Lyu Yugang, director general of the Department of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education (MOE)

Mr. Chen Ziji, director general of the Department of Vocational and Adult Education, MOE

Mr. Wu Yan, director general of the Department of Higher Education, MOE

Chairperson:

Mr. Chen Wenjun, spokesperson of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

Date:

Sept. 9, 2022

Chen Wenjun:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. Today, we are holding the 29th press conference under the theme of "China in the past decade." We are delighted to have invited Mr. Huai Jinpeng, minister of education, to brief you on China's achievements in education reform and development since the 18th CPC National Congress and take your questions. Also joining us today are Mr. Lyu Yugang, director general of the Department of Basic Education; Mr. Chen Ziji, director general of the Department of Vocational and Adult Education; and Mr. Wu Yan, director general of the Department of Higher Education, MOE.

Huai Jinpeng:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. It is a great pleasure to meet you, and I would like to express my thanks to you for your long-term interest in, support for and trust in education.

General Secretary Xi Jinping replied to a letter from the students of Beijing Normal University who are participating in a teacher training program and extended greetings to teachers across the country ahead of the 38th Teachers' Day in China, which falls on Sept. 10. This fully reflects the high importance the CPC Central Committee attaches to education and its care for teachers.

Education is crucial for the country and the Party. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas and new strategies around the fundamental issues of what kind of citizens we should be cultivating, and how and for whom we are cultivating citizens. These important instructions on education, made by General Secretary Xi Jinping, has pointed out the direction and provided fundamental guidelines for the development of education in China in the new era. Over the past 10 years, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the education sector has fully implemented the Party's education policy, carried out the fundamental mission of fostering virtue, nurtured a new generation of capable young people who have a good and all-round grounding in moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic aspects, and are well-prepared to join the socialist cause. The education sector has been promoting education equality, improving the quality of education, and accelerating the modernization of education, so as to build a country strong in education and to provide education that our people are satisfied with. Education in China has displayed more characteristic features and made historic achievements, and is undergoing structural changes.

In the past decade, universal education has expanded remarkably, better guaranteeing people's access to education and effectively alleviating this pressing problem that is of the greatest concern to the people. At present, China has nearly 530,000 schools of various levels and categories, with over 290 million students currently receiving education. The gross enrollment ratio for preschool education reaches 88.1%, up 23.6 percentage points compared with 10 years ago. Following its full coverage nationwide, the retention rate of nine-year compulsory education hits 95.4%, an increase of 3.6 percentage points compared with 10 years ago. The gross enrollment ratios for senior secondary education and higher education climb to 91.4% and 57.8%, up 6.4 percentage points and 27.8 percentage points, respectively. The coverage of education in China has either reached or surpassed the average levels of middle- and high-income countries in the world. Specifically, preschool education and compulsory education have reached the average level of high-income countries, and higher education is becoming universal. The average schooling years of the working-age population reach 10.9 years. All the 200,000 dropouts from compulsory education have returned to school, which means that the long-standing student dropout problem has been solved, making an important contribution to building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. All 2,895 counties across the country have passed education inspections, and 99.8% of primary and secondary schools have met the 20 bottom line requirements for running a school. Schools have undergone fundamental changes, and the country has achieved new progress in promoting balanced and integrated development of compulsory education in urban and rural areas. The country's financial aid system for students has covered all educational stages, making nearly 1.3 billion payments over the past 10 years. We have continued to implement special plans for key colleges and universities to admit students from rural and poverty-stricken areas, enrolling a total of more than 950,000 students. All counties with a population of more than 300,000 have special education schools, and over 95% of children with disabilities are enrolled in compulsory education.

In the past decade, our educational service capacity has been steadily improved, providing a strong source of talent and intellectual support for the implementation of major national strategies and socioeconomic development. Over 218 million Chinese have a college degree, a substantial growth from a decade ago. We have implemented a training plan for cultivating outstanding talent in foundational disciplines, deepened the reform of master and doctoral degree programs in engineering, strengthened innovation and entrepreneurship education for college students, and accelerated the training of urgently needed talent. We have optimized forms of vocational education, promoted the integration of vocational and general education, and deepened the integration of production and education. Secondary and higher vocational schools (excluding technical schools) have cultivated more than 79 million graduates in the past 10 years. We have steadily advanced the development of world-class universities and disciplines. Several disciplines have been placed among the world's top ranks. The innovation ability of Chinese higher education institutions (HEIs) has continued to improve. In the past 10 years, HEIs received 67% of all natural science awards and 72% of all technological invention awards. For three consecutive years, HEI researchers have been awarded first-class prizes at the State Natural Science Awards. HEIs have contributed to innovation and making key technological breakthroughs such as the observation of the quantum anomalous Hall effect for the first time, the quantum computer "Jiuzhang," China's first home-developed cutter suction dredger "Tian Jing," the world's first pebble-bed modular high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear plant, and China's first home-developed COVID-19 antibody drug approved for marketing. We have deepened industry-university- research cooperation and accelerated the commercial application of scientific and technological achievements. The monetary value of patent commercialization has amounted to 8.89 billion yuan, up from 820 million yuan a decade ago. We have promoted the prosperity and development of philosophy and social sciences in colleges and universities. We have promoted educational exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and supported youth in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to integrate into overall national development.

In the past decade, the reform and opening-up of education has continued to deepen, and the education system that serves the lifelong learning of people has been further improved. We have ensured that the Party exercises overall leadership over education, followed Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in educating people, promoted theoretical and political courses in primary and secondary schools as well as universities and colleges in an overall manner, incorporated "work skills" into the Party's education policy, and fully promoted education in standard spoken and written Chinese across the country. Students have unswervingly followed the instructions and guidance of the Party and declared their commitment to making due contributions to building a strong country. We have been committed to prioritizing the development of education, and government spending on education has remained above 4% of GDP for 10 consecutive years. We have further reduced the burden of homework and after-school tutoring on students in compulsory education, and the education sector is undergoing changes. Reforms in areas such as education evaluation, examination and enrollment have continued to deepen, and law-based governance of education has become more strict and powerful. We have exercised full and strict Party self-governance in this regard. We have ensured that the average salaries of teachers in compulsory education are not lower than that of public servants working in the same locality. In the face of COVID-19, more than 18 million teachers rose to the challenge and switched to online teaching. We have launched the national education digitalization strategy to accelerate the digital transformation of education. We have been working to build a new paradigm of education opening-up, and deepen cooperation in the field of education among Belt and Road countries. We have strengthened cultural exchanges between China and other countries, developed closer relations among people, and helped build a community with a shared future for mankind. With an expanded international education platform, China's education sector is becoming increasingly open and we are more confident about playing a more active role in education on the international stage.

Embarking on a new journey, we will adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, educate people for the Party, cultivate talent for the country, promote the high-quality development of education, and make new and greater contributions to the realization of the second centenary goal of building a modern socialist country in all respects. 

Now, my colleagues and I are happy to answer your questions. Thank you.

Chen Wenjun:

Thank you, Mr. Huai. Now the floor is open for questions. Please identify the media outlet you represent before raising questions.

CCTV:

Tomorrow is Teachers' Day. Teachers are fundamental to education. Mr. Huai, what major progress was made in building the teacher force in the past 10 years? Thank you.

Huai Jinpeng:

Thank you for your question. I am willing to answer this question since I was once a teacher for more than 20 years. 

Teachers are fundamental to education, which determines the future. Nurturing talents is to foster China's innovative ability. Excellent teachers underpin high-quality education. I would like to introduce the progress made in education personnel in the past decade in the following aspects.

Let me cite statistics first. The total number of full-time teachers at all educational levels in China reached 18.44 million by 2021, up 26% from 14.62 million in 2012. The past decade has seen an increased number of teachers as well as an improvement in the quality and structure of teachers, which has provided a solid guarantee for modernizing education, building China into a country with strong education, and delivering education that satisfies people's needs. 

We credit tremendous changes in education to the great importance that the Party and the country has attached to the teaching workforce since the 18th CPC National Congress. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a number of important instructions, delivered important speeches, and extended Teachers' Day greetings to teachers each year in different ways. His important discourse about teachers improved the status and role of teachers' work to an unprecedented level so that teachers can be more confident and achieve more self-improvement. This discourse also served as a fundamental reference for building a strong teaching workforce in the new era. The discourse included four requirements for good teachers, four aspects that teachers should guide students, four relationships that teachers should balance in education, and what makes a great educator. The MOE has implemented measures and pressed ahead in this regard, which can be summarized into three aspects, namely respecting teachers, strengthening the teaching workforce, and benefiting teachers.

First, society respects teachers more. Respecting teachers and valuing education is a fine tradition of Chinese culture, which requires society to appreciate, understand, and support teachers. We have built and improved a system to commend, award, select, and publicize exemplary teachers by granting titles such as "People's Educator," "Models of the Times," "National Model of Teaching and Educating," "the Most Beautiful Teachers," and national model teachers and excellent teachers awards, such as the National Teaching Achievement Award. The system embodies an important function in serving teachers and boosting their spirits. We actively publicized major exemplary teachers, such as Yu Yi, Wei Xinghua, Gao Mingxuan, and Zhang Guimei, as well as a large group of excellent teachers working at schools. We celebrated Teachers' Day and fostered a fine atmosphere in society to respect teachers and value education. Meanwhile, guided by the principle that teachers should be given both strict supervision and profound love, we rolled out professional codes and increased teachers' self-discipline. Giving top priority to teachers' ethics and conduct, we released a series of documents, including 10-point codes of conduct for teachers to enhance teachers' ideological and political awareness. We also established a system for enhancing teachers' ethics in a bid to standardize teachers' ethics and manage institutions through law-based governance. 

Second, more concrete measures have been taken to strengthen the teaching workforce. We have established a system with Chinese characteristics for cultivating and training teachers to improve their caliber and abilities. An open and flexible paradigm for training teachers has been formed, with normal universities as the mainstay and the participation of comprehensive universities. Normal universities affiliated with the MOE have enrolled 85,000 students supported by public funds in the past 10 years, and 90% of them taught in China's central and western provinces after graduation. We have launched a targeted training plan to nurture excellent teachers for underdeveloped regions in central and western China. More than 10,000 normal college students receive targeted training annually to teach in 832 counties, helping to reduce poverty in central and western China. The National Training Program has trained more than 18 million teachers in the past 12-plus years. We established an education assistance project, via which over 220,000 teachers aided education in schools in central and western regions. We stepped up efforts to increase teachers' digital literacy and teaching competence and sped up the construction of a digitalized education platform for teachers and a national information system for teacher management so that new technologies could facilitate the teaching workforce.

Third, policies benefit teachers more. We have intensified efforts to ensure that teachers can devote their time to teaching. We have established and improved a long-term mechanism to ensure the wages and benefits of compulsory education teachers and a mechanism to ensure their wages and benefits should be adjusted to those of local public servants. Currently, all regions have implemented policies to ensure that compulsory education teachers' average wages should be no less than those of local public servants. We strived to ensure teachers' living conditions. In the past 10 years since the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the central government invested more than 26 billion yuan in building 600,000 sets of rural dormitories in remote and poor areas, which provided accommodation to over 830,000 teachers. 

To promote our country, we must strengthen education and build a strong teaching workforce. Taking building the teaching workforce as our basic work, we will continue to promote the cultivation of professional and innovative education personnel of a high caliber. 

Thank you for your concern about teachers, who serve as the most crucial and fundamental power for developing education. Thank you.

Southern Metropolis Daily:

China's compulsory education has become universal. In addition, compulsory education became more balanced among counties between 2012 and 2021. What measures will be taken to further promote the sound and balanced development of compulsory education in the future? Thank you. 

Lyu Yugang:

Compulsory education is essential for China's education undertakings and has been universal in China since 2011. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core attached great importance to compulsory education and promoted leapfrog development and historic achievements on this front. First, we have ensured universal access to compulsory education and solved the long-period problem of dropouts in the fight against poverty. Second, we have basically achieved balanced development of compulsory education in counties. With unremitting efforts, all counties passed the national assessment for basic and balanced development of compulsory education, marking a new milestone in China's development of compulsory education.

Next, according to the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, we will focus on modernizing and strengthening education with unwavering emphasis, intensity, and efforts. We will sustain compulsory education as a top priority and consolidate the achievements made in ensuring compulsory education and its balanced development among regions. We will advance the fine and balanced development of compulsory education in a bid to meet people's expectations for access to education as well as high-quality education.

In terms of goals, we will emphasize four aspects, namely, more vivid development philosophies, higher standards in building schools, a higher caliber of the teaching workforce, and increased satisfaction among the people. We will ensure sound and balanced compulsory education by 2035.

In terms of implementation, we will bolster the construction of a high-quality and balanced basic public education service system to narrow the gap between regions, urban and rural areas, schools, and different groups. This can be achieved by standardizing school construction, integrating urban and rural education, balancing the allocation of teacher resources, harnessing digitalization in education, and forming an institution to care for students. 

To ensure progress, the government will be in charge, coordination will be strengthened, plans will be well-crafted, work will be done step by step, and pilot and demonstrative programs will be launched. The MOE has adopted a document to oversee and evaluate the development of quality and balanced compulsory education at the county level. Last year, 135 counties and districts were selected to carry out pilot programs, according to the document. With the basic requirements and key tasks already being specified, the pilot programs will actively explore paths and measures for developing quality and balanced compulsory education and play demonstrative and leading roles. 

I will stop here. Thank you.

Red Star News: 

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the development of vocational education and made unprecedented efforts to promote it. Could you share the future plans for developing vocational education? Thank you.

Chen Ziji:

Just as you said, since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the development of vocational education and promoted it vigorously by continually ramping up policy support for building a modern system at a faster speed. As a result, vocational education has achieved leapfrog development. It used to follow the example of general education but now has become a relatively independent type of education and entered a stage of pursuing excellence and higher value. The changes can be seen in the following four aspects. 

First, the operational mechanisms of vocational schools have been improved. A pattern featuring government leadership, industry guidance, and participation of enterprises is being formed. So far, state-owned enterprises have set up 435 vocational schools, and private enterprises have set up some 2,200. Over 50 industry regulators, industry organizations, and central enterprises have jointly set up 56 teaching instruction committees to guide vocational education in different industries. Over 1,500 vocational education groups have been established, involving over 30,000 enterprises. Vocational schools and enterprises have jointly set up 24,900 internship and training bases. Some 3,000 enterprises that integrate vocational education with industries have been fostered, and 21 cities are integrating industry with vocational education on a pilot basis.  

Second, the layout of vocational education has been improved. So far, China has established 9,789 secondary vocational schools (including 2,492 skilled workers schools) and 1,518 vocational colleges. Now, almost every county has at least one secondary vocational school, and every city has at least one vocational college. The role of vocational education in supporting regional socio-economic development has become more significant. When designing majors for secondary vocational schools, junior vocational colleges, and undergraduate vocational programs, we took an integrated approach, and have opened 1,349 majors at 120,000 sites, basically covering all sectors of the national economy.

Third, training models have been innovated. Now schools and enterprises make training plans together, and practical training accounts for over 50% of a student's training. This way, teaching and production have been more effectively linked. Over 11,600 experts from some 4,600 enterprises and public institutions have been engaged to revise the introduction of the above-mentioned 1,349 majors. We have also launched 558 modern apprentice programs on a trial basis covering 501 schools and over 1,000 sites.

Fourth, international cooperation has delivered big highlights. So far, Chinese vocational colleges have established stable ties with over 70 countries and international organizations, set up 25 "Luban Workshops" in partnership with 23 countries and regions, and launched "Chinese language plus vocational training" programs in more than 40 countries and regions. They have also launched over 1,000 institutions and programs with their partners in 28 countries and regions. Chinese vocational colleges have so far hosted some 20,000 overseas students. Over 1,000 teaching standards for vocational majors, 6,000 standards for vocational courses, and 2,000 courses have been introduced overseas.

Going forward, we will continue to modernize vocational education and carry out related reforms to promote well-rounded human development and support high-quality socio-economic development. We will work on the basis of enhancing the core capability of vocational colleges, and seek to break through by integrating it with industry. We will continue to integrate vocational and general education as a key task and innovate mechanisms for international exchanges and cooperation. With these efforts, General Secretary Xi Jinping's ardent expectations for vocational education will be transformed into fruitful actions on the vocational education front. Thank you.

Changjiang Daily:

The reform to the examination and enrollment system is a major concern of students and their parents. Could you introduce the progress of the reforms? Thank you.

Huai Jinpeng: 

This is a very good question. The examination and enrollment system is a basic educational system in China. Concerning national development as well as the immediate interests of the people and the health of teenagers, its reform is an important matter that almost everyone and every family has paid attention to.

In 2014, the State Council issued a document on deepening the reform of the examination and enrollment system, marking the start of a new round of reform to the system. The MOE then adopted a series of documents and policies to instruct 29 provinces to comprehensively reform their college entrance examination practices. An examination and enrollment model with Chinese characteristics has since taken shape, marked by categorized examination, comprehensive evaluation, and diversified college admission. Related institutions and mechanisms have been improved to further ensure fairness, sound talent selection, and strong supervision. The modern education, examination, and enrollment system with Chinese characteristics has been improved, as demonstrated in the following five aspects.

First, education access among different regions and between urban and rural areas has become more equitable. We have continued the program to enroll more students from central and western China and allocated new enrollment quotas in favor of central and western provinces and provinces with large populations. We have also continued the special program for major universities and colleges to enroll students from rural areas and poverty-stricken areas. From 2012 to 2022, annual enrollment from such areas has increased from 10,000 to 131,000 thanks to the program, and the total enrollments have exceeded 950,000. We have further implemented and improved the policy to grant children who live in urban areas with their rural migrant worker parents the same eligibility to go to secondary school or college as local students after receiving compulsory education. Some 1.68 million relocated children have sat the college entrance exam in the places of relocation.

Second, examinations have been improved to better promote well-rounded human development. All localities across China have generally put in place mechanisms for evaluating the well-rounded development of high school students. The function of college entrance exams in cultivating talent has been strengthened, with its content now focusing more on prompting comprehensive moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and development of labor skills among students. There is a greater tendency to test a student's capabilities in the exam, and exams are now being more effectively linked with teaching. We have vigorously promoted categorized examinations for vocational college enrollment to test a student both on their academic achievements and professional skills. Annual enrollments through categorized examination have now passed three million, accounting for more than 60% of the total enrollments by vocational colleges. 

Third, talent selection has become more scientific and standard. In recent years, designated circumstances for granting extra scores to certain college entrance exam sitters have been significantly reduced and strictly controlled. Five national categories of circumstances have been canceled, and we are gradually canceling 95 local categories. The preferential policies for ethnic minorities will be made more targeted. In 2020, we launched a program to select and cultivate top-notch innovation talents in basic disciplines to meet the needs of China's major strategies. Around 18,000 enrollments have been made in the past three years under the program. We have also further reformed the examination and enrollment methods for art majors and members of high-level sports teams in colleges and universities to make selection fairer and more scientific. 

Fourth, we have further strengthened institutional development. We have increased information transparency, thoroughly implemented the Sunshine Project in college student enrollment, and earnestly carried out a series of restrictions on work related to student enrollment such as the "30 Prohibitions" and "Eight Basic Requirements." We have strengthened management on the process of examinations and admissions and strictly cracked down on illegal and criminal activities related to examinations. Since 2020, we have actively responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and created a model for organizing large-scale examinations under the regular epidemic prevention measures based on China's experience.

Fifth, we have made steady progress in comprehensive reform of the national college entrance examination. So far, a total of 29 provinces across the country have implemented the reform, giving students more choices in the combination of exam subjects instead of having to choose between liberal arts or science subjects. Regular senior high schools have to varying degrees adopted a system allowing students to choose electives. Colleges and universities have further improved curriculum provision requiring more focus on the cultivation of talents with solid foundation and wide career scope.

The examination and enrollment system is the country's basic education system. The MOE will continue to deepen reform in line with the needs of the country's economic and social development and personnel training to better serve national strategies. Thank you.

Cover News:

After a decade of rapid development, the accessibility of preschool education has been greatly improved. Could you please introduce what measures the MOE has taken to promote the development of preschool education? Going forward, how can inclusive preschool education resources continue to be expanded, the problem of difficult and expensive access to kindergartens be solved, and crucial support for the implementation of the three-child policy be provided?

Lyu Yugang: 

Thank you for your questions. These are good questions and of great public concern. The learning done in early childhood provides a crucial basis for the rest of one's whole life. The access to kindergartens has become a firm demand for many families. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the development of preschool education and issued a number of guidelines on deepening reform and standardizing the development of preschool education to promote its rapid development and improve its accessibility. In 2021, there were 295,000 kindergartens nationwide, with 48.05 million children enrolled. The gross three-year enrollment rate reached 88.1%, which was 23.6 percentage points higher than that of 2012. The coverage rate of government-subsidized private kindergartens reached 87.8%, which was 20.5 percentage points higher than that of 2016 when statistics began, enabling the vast majority of children to enjoy inclusive preschool education services and enhancing people's sense of happiness and gain.

Over the last decade, to promote the development of preschool education, we have focused our efforts on solving the problem of difficult and expensive access to kindergartens that is of great concern to the people, and achieved obvious progress. We have mainly taken measures from the following aspects.

First, we have remained firm to the direction of development, always adhered to the people-centered approach in the development of education, and firmly grasped the basic direction of preschool education for the benefit of the public.

Second, we have implemented special campaigns. The MOE and other departments have continuously carried out multi-phased action plans. The central government allocated 196 billion yuan of special funds to support preschool education and continued to step up efforts to promote its development.  

Third, we have expanded resources for the benefit of the public and vigorously developed public kindergartens, which accounted for 51.9% of the total in 2021, while actively supporting private kindergartens to provide public services. We have also implemented a special campaign to improve the governance of kindergartens in urban communities, bringing more than 20,000 kindergartens under orderly management, increasing the number of public education places by 4.16 million, and significantly expanding inclusive preschool education resources.

Fourth, we have established and improved institutions and systems, issued working rules and charging methods for kindergartens and guidelines on smooth transition from kindergarten to elementary school, and carried out supervision and evaluation on the operation of kindergartens and the provision of preschool education at the county level, to constantly improve the overall operation of kindergartens.

Next, the MOE will take implementation of the "14th Five-Year Plan" Action Plan for the Development and Improvement of Preschool Education as an important focus, earnestly implement the national population development strategy and actively promote the implementation of the three-child policy.

As for the overall goals, we will further increase the accessibility and affordability of preschool education. By 2025, the gross three-year preschool education enrollment rate is expected to reach 90%, the coverage rate of government-subsidized private kindergartens is expected to reach 85%, and a properly distributed public service system for preschool education will be established, covering both urban and rural areas.

In terms of the supply of places, according to the trend of population change, we will strengthen the prediction of enrollment demand by county, further expand preschool education resources through a variety of channels, especially inclusive preschool education resources, effectively solve the problem of large class sizes, and better meet the enrollment demand of kindergarten-age children.

In terms of policy support, we will further improve the system for ensuring inclusive preschool education, the mechanism for funding and cost sharing, and the system for providing supplementary kindergarten teachers and guaranteeing their salaries and benefits.

In terms of preschool care and education, we will continue regarding games as basic activities and deeply promote the transition from kindergarten to elementary school in a scientific manner, to effectively alleviate parents' anxiety about their children's enrollment. We will also improve the quality evaluation system and comprehensively improve care and education in kindergartens. Thank you.

The Paper:

It has been more than a year since the "double reduction" policy was launched. What achievements have been made? How should we evaluate the results? Thank you.

Lyu Yugang:

This question has drawn widespread attention from all sectors of society over the past year or so. As one of the major decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the "double reduction" policy has gained massive attention, understanding and support from society. The MOE has attached great importance to the implementation of the "double reduction" policy, regarding it as a top priority for the work of the ministry's Party leadership group and education supervision. We have refined the policies and measures, improved the working mechanism, and paid close attention to the implementation of the work. Overall, the "double reduction" work is progressing smoothly and has achieved phased results.

Everyone is aware that the implementation of "double reduction" involves the two parties of schools and off-campus. In terms of schools, the key is to focus on strengthening the main position of school education, training talents who can take on the responsibility of national rejuvenation, and achieving the "three improvements."

First, schools should improve the management of homework. Over the past year, the total quantity of school written homework and time spent doing it have been effectively controlled, and the quality of homework has been continuously improved. According to a third-party survey, since the implementation of the "double reduction" policy one year ago, 87.8% of students said they believe that the amount of homework has been significantly reduced, and more than 90% of the students were able to complete their homework within the specified time.

Second, schools should improve after-school services. After-school services have achieved full coverage. The content of after-school services has been gradually enriched and is increasingly attractive, which better meets the diverse learning needs of students. In a third-party survey, 90% of students said they participate in after-school services, which have always been voluntary, and 88.3% of the students said they enjoyed the services provided by the school.

Third, schools should improve classroom teaching. All parties from the national to the local levels, to schools, have paid more attention to education and teaching reform. The country has built a smart education platform for primary and secondary schools to expand the sharing of high-quality education resources. To date, there are 34,000 resources. Since the revision on March 1, the total number of visits has reached 8.8 billion, with a daily average of 46.35 million visits. It's fair to say that the platform has effectively served the implementation of the "double reduction" policy. All local schools and colleges have comprehensively introduced new curriculums and textbooks, actively promoted the country's excellent teaching achievements, and led the reform of education and teaching. Local governments have established basic teaching procedures, strengthened teacher training, enhanced support for teaching and research, accurately analyzed learning conditions, and focused on teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. The quality of classroom teaching has steadily improved. National monitoring of the quality of compulsory education shows that most primary and middle school students have a positive mental outlook, and more than 80% of the students' academic quality has reached the medium level or higher.

As we see, significant achievements have been made and the effects are apparent in reducing the off-campus tutoring burden on students. For example, the number of off-campus curriculum subject-tutoring institutions has decreased sharply, with 95.6% of offline and 87.1% of online establishments closing. Meanwhile, the price of off-campus training has decreased by an average of over 40%. Moreover, actions were taken to curb irregularities while enhancing the governance of non-academic training institutions.

The implementation of the "double reduction" policy has further promoted the changes in the education concept of principals, teachers and parents. Nowadays, schools are paying more attention to ensuring the well-rounded development of students in terms of moral grounding, intellectual and physical ability, aesthetic sensibility, and work skills. Meanwhile, parents are gradually developing a concept that puts "health first" in cultivating children by positively establishing a harmonious and close parent-child relationship.

Although the "double reduction" work has achieved initial success, we should be keenly aware that this work is an arduous and sophisticated project requiring more effort. Next, the MOE will earnestly implement the decisions of the CPC Central Committee, follow the overall thinking of consolidation, advancement and risk-control, focus on lightening burdens, strengthening quality, and increasing efficiency to gradually improve our "double reduction" work and promote the high-quality development of basic education.

Thank you.

Science and Technology Daily:

We have noticed that in recent years, many landmark technologies have been presented by universities. Can you introduce the situation in cultivating talent in basic academic disciplines and top innovative talent at universities, as well as the development of sci-tech innovation and plans? Thanks.

Wu Yan:

I am happy to answer your questions. The CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to cultivating basic academic disciplines and top-notch talent. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made several important instructions, emphasizing the need to cultivate talent in basic academic disciplines in an all-round way. In recent years, the MOE has thoroughly implemented and continuously strengthened the training of basic academic disciplines and top-notch innovative talent and focused on an independent path of talent training to provide key support for building the world's major talent center. We continued our efforts in the following three areas:

First, we bear in mind the need for national development, focus on strengthening the cultivation of talent in basic academic disciplines, and improve the country's strength in the disciplines. In 2018, based on the preliminary work, the MOE, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and the China Association for Science and Technology jointly launched a cultivation plan for top students in basic disciplines. The plan established 288 training bases covering basic science, basic medicine and basic liberal arts in 77 high-level universities, attracting more than 10,000 outstanding students. A number of talent with great scientific research potential made their presence known. The 24th meeting of the central commission for deepening overall reform presided over by General Secretary Xi Jinping this February, adopted Opinions on Strengthening Talent Cultivation in Basic Academic Disciplines. Meanwhile, a strategic action of cultivating top-notch talents in basic disciplines is underway by strengthening the four key elements – first-class core courses, first-class core teaching materials, first-class core faculty, and first-class core practice projects. Efforts were also made to reform the "five major mechanisms" –the unconventional selection mechanism of top students, the bachelor's-master's-doctorate combined degree program, collaborative education mechanism of science and education integration, long-term evaluation mechanism and the support mechanism. Our goal was to deploy a multifaceted and comprehensive chain of policies. We aim to continuously cultivate outstanding natural, medical and social scientists who can shoulder great responsibilities in the future.

Second, we have been working hard on China's matters of urgency, such as strengthening the cultivation of outstanding engineers and enhancing the country's strength in engineering. Facing the challenges of a new scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, and based on the previous work, the MOE, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering jointly launched the second version of the Education and Cultivation Plan of Excellent Engineers in 2017. We aimed to cultivate the ability to solve complex engineering problems and comprehensively deepen the building of new engineering disciplines. We have promptly added 71 undergraduate majors in carbon storage science and engineering, artificial intelligence, biological breeding and more. We have also established 11 national industry-education integration innovation platforms in integrated circuits, energy storage, and other fields. Moreover, together with industry departments, we have established 50 modern industrial colleges, 33 software colleges with special features and for demonstration, 28 microelectronics colleges for demonstration, 11 first-class cybersecurity colleges and other professional and characteristic colleges. We have supported more than 1,100 colleges and universities and more than 800 enterprises to implement industry-education cooperation and collaborative education programs. Currently, China's engineering education scale ranks first in the world, tens of millions of engineering and technical professionals have been trained, and many industry leaders have emerged, supporting the construction and development of China as the world's largest manufacturing country.

Third, we have responded to the needs of China's development, focusing on strengthening the cultivation of technological innovation talents and enhancing the country's strength in relevant areas. We have built the first batch of 12 technical colleges for the future at 12 high-level universities aimed at producing cutting-edge, revolutionary and groundbreaking technological development in the next 10-15 years. We are breaking the barriers of traditional disciplines and majors, promoting the innovation with the in-depth cross-integration of disciplines and majors, and pushing forward the building of new disciplines of engineering, medical science, agricultural science, and liberal arts. With such efforts, we will cultivate a large number of technological innovation talents who can adapt to and lead the latest round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. Thank you.

Huai Jinpeng:

I would like to add one more thing. Mr. Wu Yan said basic disciplines are an important part of higher education. This decade has witnessed great changes in the technological aspect of higher education. We all know that colleges and universities are the main force of basic research, and cultivating top-notch innovation and basic-discipline talent is an important reason for the sustainable development of basic research. We often say that cultivating creative talents means accumulating important energy for the main force of basic research. There's another saying that the height of higher education determines the height of our technological innovation. At a central talent-related work conference on Sept. 27 last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed accelerating the efforts to build China into a major world center of professional talent and innovation, which pointed out to us the inevitable logic between talent cultivation and innovation and creation. I would like to add a point here. For the past 10 years, the MOE has implemented a general pattern of promoting both talent training and technological innovation to accelerate development from the perspective of the layout and structure of science and technology in the entire education field. I'd like to brief you on the results.

First, a scientific and technological innovation system with precise levels and a reasonable layout for universities has been basically formed. In the past decade, the MOE has organized universities and colleges to take the initiative to work on the world's scientific and technological frontiers and China's major national needs. Regarding the frontier sciences, which is the basic research that Mr. Wu just mentioned, and critical scientific research platforms such as integrated research platforms for breakthroughs in core technologies, the MOE has established key research laboratories and engineering centers. There are currently more than 1,500 such platforms. In terms of talent team building, colleges and universities have gathered more than 40% of the national academicians of the CAS and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and nearly 70% of the winners of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. The full-time equivalent of R&D personnel increased to 334,000 person-years, an increase of nearly 60%. In particular, Chinese scientific and technological personnel and scientific research teams of universities have actively participated in international scientific and technological cooperation and led the launch of one of the country's first major international scientific programs, "Deep-time Digital Earth" (DDE). This was what the education system has achieved in terms of research patterns and teams.

Second, a number of landmark major scientific and technological achievements have been made. Over the past decade, the MOE has organized colleges and universities to adhere to the principle that scientific and technological development must target the global sci-tech frontiers, serve the main economic battlefields, strive to fulfill the significant needs of the country and benefit people's lives and health, and to bravely climb the peaks of science and technology. Colleges and universities have won six of the 10 first prizes of the State Natural Science Award in the past decade, a milestone in terms of basic research. They have also won 10 of the 11 first prizes for China's State Technological Invention Award and two special prizes for the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award. In a series of pillar projects such as the Shenzhou space missions, the construction of the BeiDou satellite navigation network, and the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, colleges and universities have helped to break through many technological bottlenecks and made contributions to basic research and key technologies. At the same time, universities also gave full play to the advantages of profound basic research and interdisciplinary integration, actively supported the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, served rural revitalization, contributed to the science and technology of the Winter Olympics, and made active and effective efforts for national scientific and technological innovations and serving the country by science and technology.

Third, the vitality of scientific and technological innovation in colleges and universities has been continuously stimulated. Over the past decade, the MOE has vigorously promoted the innovation mechanism of the scientific and technological system in colleges and universities, relieved the burden of scientific research personnel, gave colleges and universities greater autonomy in scientific research management, continued to deepen the reform of scientific and technological evaluation, and gradually established an evaluation orientation centered on innovation quality, ability and contribution in colleges and universities. We vigorously promoted the spirit of scientists, and many great teachers have emerged.

The past 10 years of scientific and technological development in colleges and universities were a decade of talent cultivation and technological innovation, a decade of serving the national strategy, and a decade of striving to build China into a country with strong education. Mr. Wu and his colleagues are also promoting the "Internet +" innovation and entrepreneurship education campaign. In recent years, innovation and entrepreneurship education and practical activities have not only affected China, but also attracted college students from all over the world to participate in this important campaign. Going forward, we will continue to promote high-level and high-quality free exploration in colleges and universities while strengthening organized scientific research and breakthroughs, focusing on the country's critical needs, building the national science and technology platform, and promoting the further development of China's science and technology.

Thank you.

The Beijing News:

There were 10.76 million college graduates this year, a record high. At the same time, college graduates have encountered some difficulties in seeking jobs due to the pandemic. Over the past few months, we have seen that the unemployment rate of young people aged between 16 and 24 has been on the rise. What is the judgment of the Department of Education on the overall employment situation of college graduates this year? What measures will be taken next to promote employment? Thank you.  

Huai Jinpeng:

Thanks to this reporter for your question. The issues we discussed today are all of common concern to the people and the society and are major issues in economic and social development. Employment is pivotal to people's well-being and a field that the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to and cared about. Therefore, it is the top priority of our work this year to ensure the employment of college graduates. As is known to all, the total number of college graduates this year has reached nearly 11 million, exceeding 10 million for the first time in history. Affected by various factors, including the COVID-19 epidemic and mounting downward pressure on the economy, employment has experienced unprecedented difficulties. 

In fact, not only this year has the education system encountered challenges in employment. In recent years, the employment of college graduates has faced many challenges and difficulties. Faced with that, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and with the direct care and personal attention of General Secretary Xi Jinping to the employment of college graduates, the Department of Education, together with relevant departments, has firmly put into practice the decisions and plans, overcome difficulties, and implemented comprehensive policies, ensuring a stable employment situation of college graduates for many years. By far, college graduates in 2022 have made steady progress in securing jobs. I would like to report the progress to you. Here are the main features: 

First, strong support has been provided. We have strengthened top-level design to promote employment and improved policies in providing college graduates with multiple channels to find jobs or start their own businesses, encouraging them to find employment at the community level and in the central and western regions, optimizing guidance services, and strengthening the protection of rights and interest of employment. Especially in recent years, we have launched a series of bold policies. For example, we have promoted admission to higher levels of education and recruitment of all types of government bodies, public institutions and state-owned enterprises in a coordinated way to help college graduates to find employment as soon as possible and facilitate their job hunting. 

Second, employment channels have been expanded. The major role of market-based employment channels such as micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises in creating jobs has been fully leveraged. We have taken extensive action this year to launch the "Special Program on the Visits of Secretaries and Presidents of Colleges and Universities to Enterprises to Expand Job Opportunities and Bolster Employment" and the "Program on Ten Thousand Enterprises Entering Campus." We have organized a series of activities, such as activities themed "Joint Promotion of Employment by Private Enterprises and Colleges and Universities" and "Recruitment by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in One Hundred Days," to promote exchanges, cooperation, and communication between enterprises and universities, making every effort to broaden channels for creating market-based employment. The reform in the education of innovation and entrepreneurship has been advanced. Just as I mentioned when I answered the last question, the "Internet Plus" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition has also played a significant role in setting an illustrious example for and having a multiplier effect on encouraging college graduates to start their own businesses to boost employment.

Third, better guidance has been provided. We have put our hearts and souls into delivering employment guidance and take it as fundamental. In particular, we have given full play to the role of over 100,000 employment service workers in colleges and universities and counselors of graduating classes. We have strengthened career planning and employment guidance for college graduates and guided them to establish a positive outlook on employment to contribute to places where the country needs them most. Especially this year, based on the previous "24365" employment service platform for college graduates, we have optimized and upgraded it into the "National Employment Service Platform for College Graduates," providing services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This kind of digital platform has enabled college graduates to access non-stop employment guidance and services and offered one-stop and one-click online services. This year we have provided 13.7 million jobs for college graduates through this platform.

Fourth, assistance has been taken as a priority. We have established and improved the assistance mechanism for employment and carried out targeted assistance for groups with special difficulties, such as households lifted out of poverty, households living on subsistence allowances, unemployed households and college graduates with disabilities. We have launched the "Project of Support to Employment of People with Difficulties by the Central Special Lottery Welfare Fund," providing employability training for 100,000 people offline and 500,000 online, making people with difficulties more competitive in the job market. In recent years, the employment rate of low-income households and college graduates with disabilities has been higher than the national average. 

Fifth, structural adjustment has been made. It is an important direction for the reform of higher education. In combination with the needs of the labor market and technological revolution and industrial transformation, we have taken employment as an important part of the development of world-class universities and world-class disciplines, known as the "Double World-Class Project," and the structural adjustment of higher education as well as a major reference for construction performance and discipline evaluation. We have guided colleges and universities to prioritize disciplines and majors with the strongest societal demands, broadest employment prospects, strongest needs for economic and social development, and the largest talent gaps. For the disciplines and majors that have a low employment rate and have not been able to meet market demand for years, we should make timely adjustments and work together with local governments and colleges and universities to study disciplines and majors suitable for economic and social development and the all-round development of students. We must strive to improve the education structure and system with the quality of talent cultivation, meeting the job market's needs and economic and social development.

Promoting the employment of college graduates is the duty of the education system and what we are concerned about. We will unswervingly work to ensure the employment of college graduates and take it as an opportunity to optimize the structure of education further and deepen educational reform. Thank you.

21st Century Business Herald:

Since the beginning of this year, the MOE has been vigorously promoting national education digitalization strategic action and launched the National Smart Platform for Public Educational Services. What is the status of the development of this platform? What are your considerations for future work? Thank you.

Huai Jinpeng:

I will take this question. That is an area that I am particularly interested in. As we all know, not only China but many countries in the world attach great importance to the digitalization of education. Digitalization is an important part of education transformation worldwide. This year, the UN Summit on Education also listed digital education as an important topic. This is the general development background. 

With the scientific revolution and industrial reform, digital and information technology has played a significant role in supporting and promoting economic and social development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to education and the Digital China Initiative. I believe digital education is an important component of the Digital China Initiative. In that sense, promoting digital education, advancing the modernization of education, and achieving the aim of building a strong nation in education are of great significance for providing a better education platform for Chinese society and the world, building a learning society, and realizing life-long learning.

We are vigorously advancing the digitalization of education. The MOE has long been promoting the informatization and digitalization of education. One of the highlights of the ministry's work this year has been a significant project to fully launch a national education digitalization strategy to accelerate the digitalization of education. We have focused our efforts on the following aspects. 

First, a national big data center for the digitalization of education has been built. It provides public education resources and services for the whole country and the world. In his answer to the question, my colleague emphasized that an important part of our work, such as the national smart education platform launched on March 28, is the development of the National Educational Resource Center. There are 34,000 pieces of resources available on the basic education platform, 1,194 educational resource libraries and 6,628 high-quality online courses on the vocational education platform, and 27,000 courses on the higher education platform which has attracted users from 146 countries and regions across five continents. Therefore, we have integrated the resource development of basic education, vocational education, and higher education and built the national educational resource center by mobilizing quality resources.

Second, the Educational Resource Center has five important functions, including serving students' learning, serving teachers' lesson preparation and teaching, serving school management, serving education research, and serving reform on education in the future. In terms of employment this year as I just introduced, we have expanded and upgraded the "24365" platform into the National Employment Service Platform, offering big data of high-quality educational resources and providing services for the education system and society. The number of job opportunities shared on the platform for college graduates has reached 13.7 million.

With a large number of teachers nationwide, especially teachers for basic education, how can we improve training for teachers? This year we tried to use digital education online to provide basic services for national basic education, especially science education. We have improved training efficiency and provided development opportunities by combining online and offline training. At the same time, in the development of basic education in China, the development of educational resources to promote equity and improve quality can benefit all aspects more conveniently and rapidly through such methods and platforms. The work in this area has been very effective.

Concerning the application of the platform, we have launched pilots in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, with the world's largest digitalization center and service platform for educational resources basically coming into being. We have combined the data center for resources with public services, providing strong support for students' learning, teachers' education and teaching, school's educational management and research on educational reform. This support has enabled us to expand and integrate the basic contents of online learning in digital space based on current classroom teaching and campus education. That has played a significant role in ensuring online learning when schools are closed and pooling quality resources across the country amid COVID-19. I would like to share a figure. As of yesterday, our platform has been visited almost 4 billion times by more than 600 million people. We can say that this digital education platform, which has been launched rapidly on the existing basis to accelerate the development of quality resources, has gone a long way toward advancing the digitalization of education and increasing the influence and voice of China's digital education in the international community.

Next, we will continue strengthening our work on basic, vocational and higher education. In particular, we have delivered good results in higher education. Two days ago, Mr. Wu Yan told me that the total number of learners at xuetang.com was over 100 million. It has become the world's second-largest online education classroom, which proves that our work in this regard has been positive and effective. With the high-level MOOCs going international, we hope to effectively increase education quality in China and promote high-level international cooperation and exchanges.

We will keep improving the National Educational Resource Center and strengthening its capacity to provide better services. For example, through digital education and dynamic interaction, we could keep track of the key and hard parts for the students as a whole in the process of learning and how to effectively help them understand the knowledge, boost their interests in science, and achieve "double improvements" in both their ability and knowledge. Besides, the center supports teachers in educational practices to combine the imparting of knowledge with the all-round development of students more effectively. At the same time, it also enables schools to further improve their educational practices and management abilities. It is also an important platform for us to provide services for society, serving as a crucial part of a learning society and lifelong education. At this time, the classroom has been expanded to society. It is also an important carrier for us to offer Chinese education and other types of education to the international community. Therefore, digital education and digitalization of educational resources are what we will strengthen in the future as they are necessary for developing a digital China. We are willing to work with all sectors of society to promote digitalization and modernization of education and contribute to building a strong nation in education. Thank you.

Chen Wenjun:

Thank you to Mr. Huai and all the other speakers. Here, we would like to wish all the teachers across the country a happy Teachers' Day and wish you all a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival in advance. Today's briefing is concluded. See you!

Translated and edited by Wang Yiming, Wang Wei, Qin Qi, Zhang Liying, Zhang Tingting, Zhang Rui, Zhou Jing, Xu Kailin, Liu Qiang, Ma Yujia, Liu Jianing, Yang Xi, Yuan Fang, Li Huiru, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.