China’s system of cultivating talent needs an overhaul if it is to serve Beijing’s ambitions to be an education power, while its universities lag far behind their peers in international appeal, the top legislature has heard.

Education Minister Huai Jinpeng told a meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee last week that the country should explore new discipline construction mechanisms.

These will need to “more precisely” address the needs of national strategies while encouraging international academic exchanges and collaborations, he said, according to a media release on the November 5 meeting from the NPC’s website.

“The opening-up of our education sector faces severe challenges. Compared with foreign counterparts, our universities have a relatively big gap in attracting [overseas] talent,” said Huai according to the release, which gave no elaboration.

Beijing’s tighter restrictions on information and international exchanges in recent years – in response to what it describes as increasing risks of espionage by the US and its allies – have generated complaints about China’s universities at home and abroad.

Huai also noted that inadequate teaching capabilities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and generative artificial intelligence have impeded Beijing’s efforts to take part in global education governance.