Government and Policy

China issues academic degrees to 21m students

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-13 07:28

BEIJING - China awarded more than 21 million academic degrees, including 335,000 doctorates, since 1981 when a landmark regulation provided a legal frame for the country's higher education.

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The academic degrees also included 2.73 million masters' degrees and 18.3 million bachelors' degrees, according to statistics revealed on Saturday at a meeting to mark the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the country's Regulations on Academic Degrees.

The regulations, adopted in 1980 and promulgated on January 1, 1981, were important as they took the country's education standards on a track of lawful operation and helped boost social standing for knowledge and talents.

The meeting also revealed that by the end of 2009, the country had 347 institutions authorized to issue doctorates, 697 for masters' degrees and more than 700 for bachelors' degrees.

During the meeting, State Councilor Liu Yandong urged innovation and higher quality for the country's education system to cultivate more high-level talents for the country's development. Currently, more than 246,000 students are pursuing doctorate degrees in China.