China ready to work with countries to deepen engineering exchanges and collaboration

China is willing to work with countries worldwide to deepen exchanges and collaboration in engineering education, improve the quality of talent training, and contribute to global engineering education reform, Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng said on Saturday.

Huai put forward three proposals to strengthen open cooperation and foster a new international ecosystem for engineering education: jointly developing internationally recognized quality standards for engineering education, exploring new pathways for engineering education reform in the intelligent era, and building an open and inclusive global cooperation network for engineering education.

He made the remarks at the Second International Conference for Training Excellent Engineers held in Beijing on Saturday.

Huai said China's practices and methodologies in engineering education have provided valuable references for the reform and development of engineering education globally.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing technological revolution and industrial transformation, Huai said that global engineering innovation has entered an unprecedentedly active phase, with breakthroughs emerging across key fields. New technologies and sectors, such as artificial intelligence and life sciences, are rapidly evolving, bringing both opportunities and challenges to engineering education, he said.

He emphasized the Chinese government's strong commitment to advancing engineering innovation and education. He noted that China has consistently increased investment in higher education, particularly in engineering, and has established the world's largest and high-quality higher engineering education system, which currently enrolls more than 9 million students.

During the conference, the China Association for Science and Technology and the China Engineering Education Accreditation Association signed a joint statement with the International Engineering Alliance.

This initiative, proposed by China, aims to fill a critical gap in the global recognition system for high-level engineering talent. It will create unified global standards for master's and doctoral engineering programs, helping to cultivate high-caliber international talent capable of addressing challenges such as AI, climate change, and sustainable development.

In addition, several Chinese universities — including Beijing Jiaotong University, Central South University, South China University of Technology, Tongji University, and Chongqing University — signed cooperation agreements with institutions such as Spain's Polytechnic University of Valencia, Brazil's University of Campinas, Indonesia's Bandung Institute of Technology, Peru's National University of San Marcos, the University of Nairobi in Kenya, and the National University of Laos. The partnerships will focus on collaborative efforts in training excellent engineers.

The conference was organized by the Chinese Union for Training Excellent Engineers and co-hosted by institutions including Beijing Jiaotong University, Central South University, South China University of Technology, China Communications Construction Co, GEM Co, and China Southern Power Grid Co.