Revolutionizing Chinese Higher Education: The "AI + Education" Action Plan Ushers in Mandatory AI Courses

On April 10, 2026, China's Ministry of Education (MOE), alongside the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, and National Data Administration, unveiled the groundbreaking "Artificial Intelligence + Education" Action Plan. This comprehensive blueprint aims to embed AI deeply into every facet of education, marking a pivotal shift toward an intelligent education ecosystem by 2030. For higher education institutions, the plan's most transformative mandate is designating AI as a public required course—高校公共基础课 (gaoxiao gonggong jichu ke)—across all universities, ensuring every undergraduate gains foundational AI literacy.

This initiative builds on prior pilots, where over 600,000 students are already enrolled in AI-related majors, and responds to surging industry demands. With China's AI core industry valued at trillions of yuan and projected global leadership, universities must now pivot curricula to produce talent proficient in AI ethics, applications, and innovation. The plan's rollout promises not just technical skills but holistic competencies for the intelligent era.

Background: From Pilots to Nationwide Mandate

The Action Plan stems from President Xi Jinping's directives on leveraging AI for education reform and aligns with the Education Powerhouse Construction Plan (2024–2035). Preceding efforts include the 2024 AI Empowerment Education Action, which piloted projects in 17 provinces and 18 universities, yielding tools like the "AI Trial Ground" and 23 education-specific large models. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong led local implementations, informing this national strategy.

Higher education has seen rapid AI integration: Tsinghua University offers 117 pilot courses, Beihang University mandates an "AI Introduction" course for all freshmen since 2025, and Nanjing University pioneered a "1+X+Y" AI core curriculum system. Enrollment in AI disciplines exceeds 600,000, with 77 elite universities under the "101 Plan" fostering interdisciplinary talent. Yet gaps persist—teacher AI literacy varies, infrastructure lags in rural areas, and ethical risks loom—prompting this structured push.

AI as University Public Foundation Course: Core Mandate

Central to the plan is Task 2: Cultivating High-Level Talent for the Intelligent Era. Universities must classify and develop AI textbooks, ensuring all students master core knowledge. This public foundation course—universal across majors—will cover AI principles, ethics, societal impacts, and applications, delivered via "short, practical, novel" frontier modules.

Complementing this, universities will optimize disciplines: cross-fusing AI with engineering, humanities, medicine; launching majors in emerging fields like intelligent EVs and rehab tech; and partnering with enterprises/national labs for elite training. By 2030, expect a surge in composite AI talents, mirroring the 2025 addition of AI as a first-level discipline with booming enrollments.

Curriculum Overhaul and Resource Development

Higher ed curricula will emphasize interdisciplinary integration. Universities must craft AI-infused courses, micro-credentials, and virtual simulations. The national platform will supply resources: 1,000+ boutique courses already online, expanding to AI-specific ones.

Pilots like Fudan University's full coverage of AI for all undergrads/grads and Shanghai Jiao Tong's AI ethics modules exemplify this. Local adaptations ensure relevance—e.g., AI for agriculture in rural unis—while standards prevent redundancy. The official plan details guidelines for seamless K-12-to-university progression.

Empowering Faculty: Training and Evaluation

Task 5 targets teacher AI literacy via standards, full-coverage training, and competency assessments. Normal universities reform programs to include AI; qualification exams incorporate it. Incentives tie AI proficiency to promotions.

• Scale evaluations using scenario-based systems.
• Wheel-training for all faculty by 2030.
• Normal AI curriculum for future educators.

Examples: Tsinghua's AI teaching workshops; Beihang's 323 smart classrooms supporting faculty experiments. This addresses the bottleneck where only select profs currently lead AI efforts.

Infrastructure Leap: National Platforms and Bases

Tasks 10-12 invest heavily: NDRC/MOE fund national education intelligent computing platforms aggregating GPU resources; build corpora, data centers, and AI education large models (value-aligned, ethical).

Mid-trial bases and cross-innovation platforms target higher ed, with 30+ pilots scaling. Universities access shared supercomputing via education nets. By 2030, expect efficient, green infrastructure rivaling global leaders.

Vocational unis get AI-upgraded labs; future spaces like smart classrooms proliferate. MOE Q&A highlights equity focus for western/rural unis.

AI Fusion in Teaching, Research, Governance

Tasks 6-9 transform operations:

• Learning: Intelligent companions personalize paths; digital portfolios track growth.
• Teaching: Systems aid prep, analysis, grading; human-AI co-teaching.
• Governance: Smart brains for decisions, exams, jobs; safety monitoring.
• Research: AI agents accelerate discoveries; smart labs automate.

18 university pilots (e.g., Tsinghua's AI results matching) demonstrate 20-30% efficiency gains.

Job Market Impacts and Student Prospects

With 10万+ AI grads yearly, the plan aligns supply-demand via talent platforms. Unis like Peking integrate enterprise projects; graduates eye high-salary roles in AI firms (avg. 30-50万 yuan starting). Broader literacy boosts employability across fields—e.g., AI+medicine, law.

Vocational tracks target high-skill clusters, bridging 25% industry readiness gap noted in surveys.

Challenges: Equity, Ethics, Safety

Risks include digital divides, over-reliance, biases. Plan mandates standards, audits, social experiments. Western unis get priority resources; ethics embedded in courses. International norms via UNESCO collaborations ensure benevolence.

Global Context and China's Leadership

Unlike U.S. debates, China mandates AI from grade 1 (8+ hours/year). Pilots outpace; by 2030, AI education global vanguard. World Digital Education Conference 2026 showcases standards.

Photo by Nethmi Muthugala on Unsplash

Future Outlook: Toward Education Powerhouse

By 2030, expect systemic overhaul: 100k+ new AI degrees, ubiquitous smart campuses, ethical AI natives. Stakeholders—unis, enterprises, gov—must collaborate. For academics eyeing China, opportunities abound in AI faculty roles.

This plan positions Chinese higher ed as AI innovation hub, fostering talents for national rejuvenation.