China’s efforts to elevate its tertiary education system face the dual challenges of integrating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) while preserving humanistic values and expanding social equity. The government aims to position the country as a global leader in education by 2035, a goal set by President Xi Jinping in 2021, emphasizing innovation, interdisciplinarity, and talent cultivation aligned with economic and social development.
Xi highlighted the necessity of fostering collaboration between universities and industry, enhancing digitalisation, and expanding international partnerships. At the same time, he stressed maintaining education as an inclusive and accessible public service devoted to cultivating both knowledge and virtue.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), China has made significant strides over recent years. The country boasts a gross enrolment rate of over 60 percent in tertiary and continuing education programs, on track to exceed high-income country averages by 2028. China has consistently allocated more than 4 percent of its GDP to education, meeting Unesco’s recommended benchmark of 4 to 6 percent, with a strong focus on developing smart platforms and emerging technologies.
Despite these advances, Unesco’s 2026 Global Education Monitoring report points to ongoing challenges. These include scaling up vocational education, balancing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) training with humanities and social sciences, and building institutional capacity to meet strategic education goals. Unesco’s East Asia director, Professor Shahbaz Khan, noted that China’s higher education will increasingly prioritize quality, relevance, interdisciplinary study, innovation, digital transformation, and global engagement but must do so in ways tailored to diverse institutions and regional contexts.
China’s current 15th Five-Year Plan for education development reflects these priorities by encouraging curriculum adjustments and promoting interdisciplinary programs. However, striking a balance between responding to rapid technological and labor market shifts and fulfilling traditional educational functions of research and instruction remains complex.
Digital technologies and AI offer promising avenues for educational innovation, but they also demand significant investments in infrastructure, data governance, academic integrity, and quality assurance. Khan underscored the importance of preserving the human aspects of higher education, such as professional judgment, student agency, critical thinking, and meaningful interaction, with AI serving as a tool to augment rather than replace these elements.
Experts from Hong Kong’s academic community affirm the value of integrating AI literacy and digital skills alongside liberal arts education. Professor Lau Chi-pang of Lingnan University explained that courses are being tailored through digital tools and interdisciplinary frameworks to better prepare students for the global marketplace. At Lingnan, for example, undergraduate students must complete courses that develop both AI competence and ethical reasoning.
Similarly, City University of Hong Kong is embracing technological integration through initiatives like its Academy of Innovation and the Hong Kong Institute of AI for Science. Acting president Professor Lee Chun-sing described these efforts as creating an agile ecosystem that nurtures future-ready talent and accelerates innovation.
Unesco’s Khan also stressed that China’s emphasis on STEM does not have to come at the expense of the arts, as many technological challenges intersect with ethical, cultural, and communicative dimensions. He suggested that China could become a key hub for interdisciplinary innovation by fostering collaboration between scientific and social science disciplines and expanding international academic networks. The country’s growing strategic research investments and the “Study in China” campaign contribute to this outlook, potentially enhancing its role in global higher education cooperation.