China will expand and improve higher education, with increased enrollment in quality undergraduate programs, according to recommendations on a plan that will guide the country's development over the next five years.

This was specified in the recommendations of the Communist Party of China Central Committee for formulating the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for economic and social development, which was adopted at a key Party plenum last week and made public on Tuesday.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's higher education gross enrollment rate hit 60.8 percent, with 55 million students graduating from colleges and universities.

Zhang Nanxing, director of the institute for higher education at China National Academy of Educational Sciences, noted that the new arrangements and requirements have further clarified the strategic direction for higher education reform and talent cultivation.

Zeng Tianshan, deputy director of the institute for curriculum and textbook under the Ministry of Education, said the recommendations will help extend high-quality educational resources to more groups, thus improving educational equity and quality, and injecting new momentum into fostering top-notch innovative talent.

"While implementing the recommendations, universities should develop discipline and program layouts that match national strategies, and enhance the relevance and adaptability of talent cultivation, so as to effectively strengthen the role of education in serving economic and social development," Zeng added.

Besides higher education, the recommendations call for steadily expanding the coverage of free education and exploring the extension of the length of compulsory education.

China's current compulsory education system covers nine years, spanning primary through junior high school. In 2024, over 34.6 million students were newly enrolled in compulsory education across the country, bringing the total number of students at this stage to 159.7 million.