Distinguished Vice Chairperson Zheng Jianbang, Vice Chairperson Zhang Bojun, Chairperson Huang Lixin, Secretary Zhang Jinghua and Vice-governor Chen Xingying! Here on behalf of the National Center for Schooling Development Programme (CSDP) of the Ministry of Education, I would like to extend my warm congratulations on the opening of this conference. I feel deeply honored and privileged to witness the joint efforts of the CSDP and the Promotion Committee for Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry-Education Integration for this conference. I would like to take this opportunity to share four events related to the integration of TCM production and education.

 First of all, President Xi Jinping put forward new requirements at the symposium of scientists last month for the building of a new type of research-oriented universities. I believe this is a significant deployment for our higher education reform. What is the new-type research-oriented university? Surely it must differ from our current models of college development and postgraduate education. In my opinion, a new type of research-oriented university should have three basic features. The first is to make our universities firmly rooted in our own country, as President Xi Jinping often talks about. The second is to integrate science and education, production and communication, which is emphasized in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The third is to adopt transformation of better education quality and higher intelligence. Of course, there may be many other requirements, but I think these are indispensable in building a new type of research-oriented universities.

 For the reform of higher education for TCM, it is a fairly important mission to study and fully understand the concept of this new type of research-oriented universities, which is an important direction to not only the future of Chinese TCM universities, but also for the development of all high-level universities.

 The second event is that in August, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Guiding Opinions on Medical Education Reform” (referred to as “Guiding Opinions” hereinafter). It is a summary of experience and lessons from the anti-epidemic struggle this year, which puts forward a crucial guiding principle for reforming the whole medical education system. This action reflects the importance our country attaches to the medical education reform. The Guiding Opinions, with its rich content, provides clear requirements for the reform of TCM education and makes clear arrangements on how should medical education, including TCM education, better serve the “Healthy China” strategy. It is also a guiding document for us to promote medical education and reform TCM education in the future.

 The third event is that also in August, the state government held a conference on postgraduate education. It is the first postgraduate education work conference in decades, and the first significant education conference held after the epidemic. This conference made clear requirements on how to build “Double First-Class” universities and how to cultivate postgraduate students. In particular, it made a very clear plan for the graduate students in professional degree programs, which will be the focus of the reform and innovation of postgraduate education. The key method of such reform and innovation is the integration of industry and education, the integration of science and education, with the goal of better serving the main battlefield of national scientific and technological innovation and economic development. This is the third issue I would like to talk about.

 The fourth event is about a national pilot program for the industry-education integration that China issued last year. Since the beginning of this year, under the leadership of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Education, we have fully promoted the implementation of industry-education integration as a major national policy. From a vertical perspective, the present industry-education integration ranges from the construction of secondary vocational education, higher education, education for applied-science-majored undergraduates and high-level universities to that of “Double First-Class” universities. Just like postgraduate education and medical education I have mentioned above, the industry-education integration runs through the whole process of reform. From a horizontal perspective, our government is now making every effort to promote the construction of cities and enterprises of industry-education integration. At the International Forum for Industry & Education to be held in Henan next week, we will sign agreements with a large number of central enterprises such as China Electronics and China Baowu to build demonstration enterprises of industry-education integration. Besides the governments and enterprises, we have fully promoted the industry-education integration in higher education and vocational education, and we also considered the industry sector as another indispensable part. Therefore, we and our related organizations have cooperated to set up a promotion committee to leverage the merits of industry in the industry-education integration of TCM. Both its development path and its prospect prove that the industry-education integration of TCM is promising.

 TCM is a treasure of the Chinese nation. Looking into history, it has already integrated industry and education, medical care and education, as well as medical care and industry. In the future, integrating industry and science with education is still necessary. Medical care, medicine and rehabilitation are naturally and closely interrelated with universities; or you may say, the development of the former should not be separated from the support, service and endorsement of the latter. Therefore, the integration of TCM with industry, science and education will open up a broad space for the development of the TCM industry. Since its establishment, the Promotion Committee for Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry-Education Integration has been working across the country. This time, we are also very happy to promote the building of a new demonstration area for the TCM industry-education integration in Lishui. We hope to promote the reform of TCM education systematically, to better serve the “Healthy China” strategy and improve world health with TCM technology innovation, and to make our own contribution to a community with a shared future for mankind.

 I wish Lishui a good beginning for the accomplishment of this mission. Thank you!