China has ramped up efforts to advance talent cultivation and research to serve national strategy and socioeconomic development since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, Education Minister Huai Jinpeng has said.

The country has been promoting talent training programs in fundamental disciplines and implementing reforms in nurturing excellent engineers, Huai said in a signed article published on People's Daily.

Higher education institutes continue to play a key role in basic research and major technological breakthroughs, he added.

Universities led the way in the National Science and Technology Awards in 2023, securing 75.5 percent of the National Natural Science Awards, 75.6 percent of the Technological Invention Awards and 56.5 percent of the Science and Technology Progress Awards, Huai said.

The reform of universities will be further advanced in a categorized way, encouraging different types of institutes to leverage their strengths and develop distinctive features, the minister noted.

Efforts will also focus on setting up disciplines in urgent need, strengthening the development of fundamental, emerging and interdisciplinary fields, and cultivating top talent with exceptional abilities, Huai said.

The innovation mechanisms in universities are being refined to improve the efficiency of transforming scientific achievements into practical applications.

In addition, the integration of sci-tech education with humanities enlightenment will be strengthened to enhance students' overall competencies, he said.