Zhai Tingting: Cultivating Talents for New Quality Productive Forces is the Key to Achieving Sustainable Development
The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that we must persist in the view that technology is the primary productive force, talent [1] is the primary resource, and innovation is the primary driver. Following the perspective that "the principal productive force is man himself," the essence of innovation-driven development is talent-driven development. Cultivating and developing new quality productive forces is likewise inseparable from the leadership and support provided by talent. In the New Era, China's economic and social development is at a critical stage of transformation and upgrading, and high-quality development has placed new and higher requirements on talent. We must accelerate the construction of a talent cultivation system for new quality productive forces that is compatible with sustainable development, cultivating, attracting, and effectively utilizing talent through reform and innovation. Cultivating large numbers of new quality productive force talents—those possessed of innovative thinking, interdisciplinary knowledge, and practical abilities—is the key to achieving sustainable development.
Perfect the Talent Cultivation System and Continuously Advance Reform and Innovation in Education
Rooted in the historical context of developing new quality productive forces, the current educational system and innovation environment cannot yet fully adapt to the growth requirements of talents for new quality productive forces, and the innovative vitality of talent has not yet been fully stimulated. Looking to the future, national development is increasingly reliant on the competitive growth of talent in all fields and on the comprehensive improvement of the quality of human and talent resources. As the primary front for talent cultivation, universities must firmly grasp the original aspiration and founding mission of educating for the Party and the country. They must persist in fostering virtue through education (立德树人) [2], actively adapt to the requirements of developing new quality productive forces, and use reform measures to dismantle various "pain points" and "bottlenecks" (堵点) [3] restraining innovation. This will promote a positive interaction between education, technology, and talent cultivation. Furthermore, taking the promotion of high-quality development as the focal point, universities should cultivate all types of urgently needed talent to push forward technological innovation and promote a leap in productive forces.
Currently, the continuous deepening of educational reform and innovation is the key to improving the quality of talent cultivation. First, we must optimize the structure of disciplines and majors. Closely surrounding national strategic needs, we must plan the layout of emerging disciplines ahead of time. This includes vigorously developing "New Engineering, New Medicine, New Agriculture, and New Liberal Arts," [4] and promoting the flourishing development of philosophy, social sciences, and emerging interdisciplinary fields. In particular, we must strengthen the cultivation of talent in basic disciplines to lay a foundation for producing world-class scientists and innovation teams. Second, we must innovate talent cultivation models. Modern educational concepts such as the integration of science and education, the integration of industry and education, and interdisciplinary fusion should be established to accelerate the formation of new collaborative education mechanisms characterized by complementary advantages and resource sharing. Scientific research strengths should be transformed into educational strengths, and the latest research results should be promptly incorporated into teaching content. We must promote healthy interaction between industry and education, building efficient platforms for joint talent cultivation between universities and industries. This involves establishing and improving school-enterprise cooperation mechanisms, jointly formulating talent cultivation plans, and conducting "order-based" training [5]. Universities should be encouraged to establish interdisciplinary and cross-domain platforms to promote the fusion of professional knowledge from different fields. Third, we must improve the quality of education and teaching. By building a high-quality teaching force, we can comprehensively improve teachers' ideological and political quality and professional capabilities. We should implement teacher teaching development plans to enhance teaching levels. The teacher evaluation mechanism must be improved to include teaching quality, educational outcomes, and research innovation as important dimensions of assessment. Modern information technology should be fully utilized to improve teaching methods and effectiveness. The construction of information-based teaching facilities, such as smart classrooms and virtual simulation laboratories, should be strengthened to provide students with diverse learning experiences.
Strengthen the Cultivation of Practical Abilities and Promote the Integration of Industry and Education for Collaborative Training
Practical ability is an important foundation for the innovative and creative capacity of talent. New quality productive force talents must possess both a profound reserve of knowledge and robust practical skills. Only by discovering and solving problems in practice can learned knowledge be transformed into true talent and practical learning. Currently, China's talent cultivation still faces the problem of emphasizing theory while neglecting practice; practical teaching is weak, and students lack sufficient practical ability. Therefore, we must vigorously strengthen "practice-based education," promote the deep integration of industry and education, and foster close cooperation between schools and enterprises, allowing students to receive training and increase their talents on the front lines of production. First, we must enrich the content of practical teaching. Internships, training, innovation and entrepreneurship, and social practice should be incorporated into talent cultivation plans, closely integrated with and mutually reinforcing classroom teaching. Experimental teaching should be strengthened, increasing the rate of experimental offerings and the quality of experimental courses. We should offer research-oriented and innovative experimental courses to cultivate students' scientific research and innovation abilities. Extracurricular practice platforms should be expanded, and students should be organized to participate in various disciplinary competitions and innovation/entrepreneurship contests to enhance their hands-on skills and innovative awareness. Second, we must innovate models of practice-based education. Methods such as project-driven learning, case analysis, situational simulation, and onsite teaching should be comprehensively utilized to enhance the attractiveness and effectiveness of practical teaching. We must strengthen the construction of internship bases, improve management mechanisms for off-campus internships, and enhance the quality of practical training. Qualified universities should be supported in building joint school-enterprise laboratories, internship bases, and innovation/entrepreneurship demonstration bases to provide students with professional practice opportunities. Universities should be encouraged to cooperate with leading industry enterprises to jointly build "industry colleges" and technology transfer centers to promote the local transformation of technological achievements. Third, we must strengthen the guarantees for practice-based education. Various practical teaching resources should be integrated and utilized to provide good conditions for student internships. We should coordinate the planning and construction of high-level innovation and entrepreneurship education practice bases, improve the curriculum system for college student innovation and entrepreneurship education, and establish a sound mentorship system for innovation and entrepreneurship. A "dual-qualified" [6] teaching force should be built, and the system for teachers to practice in enterprises should be improved to raise the level of practical teaching. The evaluation standards for practical teaching quality should be reformed, highlighting process-based assessment and ability testing. Evaluation mechanisms should be improved to include participation in practice and practical achievements as important components of academic assessment.
Construct a Talent Development Ecosystem for New Quality Productive Forces
In the New Era, fully stimulating the innovative and creative vitality of new quality productive force talent requires creating a favorable talent development ecosystem; we must construct a "full-chain" talent work pattern covering cultivation, attraction, utilization, and incentives. Currently, China's talent work still has some shortcomings and weak links, primarily reflected in an incomplete talent evaluation system, the lack of a categorized evaluation mechanism, and imperfect mechanisms for the development of innovative talent. We must persist in respecting labor, knowledge, talent, and creativity; follow the laws of talent growth; and "untie the bonds" [7] for talent and innovation. First, we must improve the talent evaluation mechanism. We should establish scientific talent concepts and improve evaluation mechanisms oriented toward character, ability, and performance. We must overcome the tendency of "the four solos" (subjective focus on papers, professional titles, degrees, and awards) [8], ensuring that talent who make outstanding contributions can stand out and achieve their deserved status. An industry evaluation mechanism based on peer review should be established, focusing on the comprehensive evaluation of character, ability, and performance. Character, learning, and innovation performance should be highlighted, with scientific research integrity as the primary condition for evaluating technological talent. Categorized evaluation should be implemented, applying differentiated assessments for talent in different fields and types. Second, we must optimize the environment for talent development. We should deepen reforms in key areas such as scientific research funding management, talent introduction, and professional title appointment, granting researchers greater autonomy in managing people, finance, and resources, as well as greater decision-making power over technical routes. Scientific research project and fund management should be simplified so that researchers can concentrate on scientific study. We should improve the management system for foreigners working in China and provide conveniences in entry/exit, residency, medical care, and children's education for overseas returnees and high-end foreign talent. An open, fluid, competitive, and collaborative talent management mechanism should be constructed to remove institutional obstacles to talent mobility. Third, we must improve talent incentive mechanisms. We should perfect the distribution mechanism for income from the transformation of technological achievements and implement the ownership or long-term usage rights of job-related technological achievements for researchers. Researchers should be granted the right to dispose of technological achievements, and the share of income from achievement transformation should be increased. We must bridge the gap between scientific research and the industrial, innovation, and capital chains to accelerate the transformation of technological results. A normalized mechanism for connecting technological personnel with enterprises should be established, encouraging researchers to solve technical problems for businesses. Channels for two-way talent mobility should be cleared, promoting the rational flow of researchers between enterprises and scientific research institutions. Fourth, we must improve the guarantee mechanism for talent cultivation. Policies for talent cultivation should be perfected, and strategic plans and action plans for the independent cultivation of talent in national key areas should be formulated. We must strengthen the construction of national strategic talent forces and implement major talent projects to cultivate large numbers of masters in philosophy and social sciences, technological leaders, outstanding engineers, "Great Country Craftsmen" (大国工匠), and high-skilled talents. We should accelerate the construction of a batch of new high-level laboratories, frontier science centers, and other innovation platforms to provide facilities for talent to display their abilities. At the same time, we must clear the paths for talent growth, ensuring talent can stay, stand firm, and develop well, continuously releasing talent vitality to provide strong support for the sustained development of new quality productive forces.
(The author is a professor at the School of Marxism, Taiyuan University) Source: Guangming Daily February 17, 2025 Network Editor: Huihui