Like millions of Chinese students, 18-year-old He Junjie is anxiously waiting to see which university and major will admit him after last month’s intensely competitive National Higher Education Entrance Examination, or gaokao.
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After evaluating his score and studying the universities and programmes he qualified for, He focused on engineering when submitting his applications a few weeks ago.
Information and communications technology, as well as vehicle engineering, were the top choices, the young man from east China’s Zhejiang province said, because they “represent the direction of future industrial development”.
“Many of my classmates have also chosen majors related to new technology and engineering, because we think there’s quite a lot of demand for such talent in Hangzhou,” He said, referring to the provincial capital that is home to artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek and humanoid robotics firm Unitree Robotics.
While international trade and urban planning were among the most popular subjects with students two decades ago, when China joined the World Trade Organization and its property market started to boom, a new wave of technology-focused academic priorities is reshaping higher education.
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Engineering disciplines related to possible technological advancements have reigned supreme as China’s state-driven system funnels students into such fields amid intensified tech competition with the United States.