This year's government work report proposed categorically advancing university reforms, dynamically adjusting academic disciplines, and initiating a new round of the "Double First-Class" initiative. Launched in 2015, the "Double First-Class" initiative has now completed two rounds, covering 147 universities, and has achieved significant results. One measure for enhancing the quality and upgrading of higher education during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period is to support the expansion of undergraduate enrollment at "Double First-Class" universities by over 100,000 students, further highlighting the role of the initiative in serving high-quality development. The year 2026 marks the beginning of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, and the third round of "Double First-Class" construction will commence. What experiences have been accumulated from the first two rounds? What requirements does promoting high-quality economic and social development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period place on the new round of "Double First-Class" construction? This publication invited delegates and committee members to discuss these issues. Guests included delegate Xue Qikun (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, President of Southern University of Science and Technology), committee member Cheng Yongbo (Standing Committee Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, President of Nanjing University of Finance and Economics), and committee member Luo Weidong (Professor at the School of Economics, Zhejiang University).

Stimulating Vitality Through Institutional Innovation Reporter: How do you evaluate the outcomes of the past two rounds of the "Double First-Class" initiative? What experiences have been accumulated in promoting the connotative development of China's higher education? Cheng Yongbo: The effectiveness of the "Double First-Class" initiative is mainly reflected in three aspects: cultivating high-level talent, supporting high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, and enhancing the international influence of Chinese higher education. The key experiences can be summarized as follows: at the national level, identifying the overarching orientation of serving major national strategic needs and running universities rooted in China; in terms of institutional mechanisms, establishing a competitive system with dynamic adjustments and mobility; and in the construction approach, defining a scientific path focused on demand orientation, categorized development, and connotative building. This orientation, which breaks "identity solidification" and emphasizes practical contributions, has greatly stimulated the internal motivation of local universities. Particularly from the perspective of the second round of "Double First-Class" universities, my deepest impression is that the door to "Double First-Class" construction is open to all well-prepared, distinctive, and high-standard universities. Luo Weidong: According to statistical data, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, "Double First-Class" universities, accounting for less than 10% of the total number of universities in China, trained over 50% of the nation's master's degree students and 80% of its doctoral students. They also undertook more than 90% of the specialized tasks for cultivating urgently needed high-level talent. During the past two rounds of construction, institutional innovation has continuously deepened. The introduction of a dynamic adjustment mechanism broke the "lifelong system" and stimulated universities' sense of crisis and competitive vitality. The establishment and introduction of international and third-party evaluation mechanisms enhanced the transparency and credibility of discipline development. The construction of interdisciplinary platforms promoted paradigm shifts in knowledge production. Deep cooperation between universities, local governments, and industries expanded educational resources and space. These experiences have laid a solid foundation for the new round of "Double First-Class" construction. Xue Qikun: Southern University of Science and Technology, where I am based, entered the "Double First-Class" construction roster in 2022. Guided by the development of first-class disciplines, we have continuously explored and innovated educational paradigms and steadily advanced the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. Led by major scientific research tasks, we have taken the lead in constructing major scientific installations and achieved continuous breakthroughs in national-level key projects. This is not only a vivid reflection of the effectiveness of SUSTech's "Double First-Class" construction but also reflects, from one perspective, the thriving momentum of China's higher education.

Resonating with National Strategy Reporter: Facing the reform and development tasks of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, what will be the focus of the new round of "Double First-Class" construction? How should universities act? Luo Weidong: The draft outline of the "15th Five-Year Plan" clearly proposes "promoting the quality improvement and expansion of higher education." This means we must both meet the people's demand for quality higher education through scale expansion and ensure that talent cultivation standards are not compromised through quality adherence. "Quality improvement" requires continuous reform, innovation, and potential挖掘 in areas such as curriculum systems, teaching methods, and evaluation mechanisms. "Expansion" requires simultaneous跟进 in areas like faculty, teaching facilities, and practical training. Balancing these two aspects requires careful design and precise policy implementation. Cheng Yongbo: The phrase "promoting the quality improvement and expansion of higher education" carries significant weight and rich内涵. Among these, "quality improvement" is the core objective, while "expansion" is the pathway to achieve it. The "Double First-Class" initiative is precisely the key link to牵引 this goal. Looking towards the "15th Five-Year Plan," the new round of "Double First-Class" construction must achieve a conceptual leap, moving from "stratified development" to "categorized excellence." Against this macro background, the path for local industry-specific universities to make breakthroughs becomes clearer: they must not blindly pursue being "large and comprehensive," but instead focus more on playing their "distinctive card." Based on this, it is recommended that the national strategic layout for the new round of "Double First-Class" construction further倾斜 towards those local universities with strong industry service capabilities and significant regional contributions, allowing "quality improvement and expansion" to take root across a broader range of universities. Xue Qikun: Taking Southern University of Science and Technology as an example, during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, our "Double First-Class" construction needs to accurately grasp the essential requirements and core principles of building a strong education system, ensuring that our planning resonates with national strategies and deeply integrates with regional development. On one hand, we must strengthen scientific research breakthroughs and intellectual support, actively serve the construction of a modern industrial system, and empower high-quality economic and social development. On the other hand, we must adhere to the close integration of investing in physical capital and investing in human capital, accelerating the historic transition from "demographic dividend" to "talent dividend" through the quality improvement and expansion of higher education.

Striving for Excellence in Different Arenas Reporter: Standing at this new starting point, what are your expectations and suggestions for the new round of "Double First-Class" construction? Xue Qikun: I hope the new round of construction can truly play the role of a "guiding baton," directing universities towards distinctive development paths, helping them find their own positioning in serving national strategies, and achieving value leaps. Specifically, the new round of "Double First-Class" construction should not only focus on the internal quality enhancement of universities themselves but also strengthen the service orientation, precisely focusing the construction重心 on "national strategies" and "regional urgent needs." By optimizing the layout of higher education resources and promoting the deep integration of universities into the national innovation system and regional industrial development格局, the "Double First-Class" initiative can truly become a strategic force supporting high-quality development. Cheng Yongbo: The third round of "Double First-Class" construction should consider both the "hard" breakthroughs of universities in science and technology, as well as their "soft" contributions in policy influence, social services, and building China's independent knowledge system. As for Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, we concentrate our best faculty, funds, and space like "driving nails" into our core areas of advantage, competing on distinctiveness, irreplaceability, and input-output ratio. Our expectation for the new round of "Double First-Class" construction is not simply an "expansion of scope," but a precise "filling of gaps," meaning that every local high-level distinctive university that has深耕 in specific fields for many years, is closely connected to regional development, and has found its place within national strategies, can find its own stage. Luo Weidong: Research universities should突出 original innovation capabilities, application-oriented universities should actively connect with major regional strategies, and industry-specific universities should深耕 their areas of advantage. Human capital is the core element of regional development. For the central and western regions to achieve high-quality development, they must be supported by a number of high-level universities. In this regard, the new round of "Double First-Class" construction should focus on promoting the倾斜 of new higher education resources towards populous provinces and the central and western regions, improving the对口支援 mechanism between eastern, central, and western universities, accelerating the revitalization of higher education in the central and western regions, and supporting these universities in building their own advantageous disciplines and leading teams. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Chinese universities cumulatively supplied 55 million talents to society. The gross enrollment rate in higher education increased from less than 30% before the 18th National Congress to over 60% now, more than doubling. Over the past five years, China has added 18 new regular undergraduate universities and 70 vocational undergraduate institutions, increasing undergraduate enrollment by 700,000 students.