China is expanding its system of granting master's and doctoral degrees based on practical achievements rather than traditional thesis papers, extending the policy beyond engineering to fields such as interpretation and translation, clinical medicine, and the arts.

According to China Central Television (CCTV) on October 19, the Academic Degrees Committee Office of the State Council released guidelines regarding a system that allows professional degree graduate students to apply for degrees using practical achievements.

The pilot program covers five majors: interpretation and translation, agriculture, clinical medicine, accounting, and the arts.

Previously, the Chinese government launched a pilot program in 2022 for graduate education reform in 18 engineering fields, including electronic and information technology, based on industry-academia cooperation training models aimed at fostering leading engineers.

That system was designed to allow achievements such as engineering design, new product development, or the creation of new equipment to substitute for thesis papers, focusing on critical strategic fields like semiconductors and quantum computing, where theoretical knowledge alone is insufficient to break through US-led technological blockades.

The announcement on this day aims to extend the practical achievement degree system, currently applied in engineering, to other academic disciplines.

CCTV explained, "This reform is still in the pilot operation and exploratory stage and will be implemented step-by-step according to professional degree categories," adding, "Moving forward, the Academic Degrees Committee Office will organize various professional degree education steering committees to guide the establishment of basic requirements for master's and doctoral degrees in those fields."

The Academic Degrees Committee Office emphasized that it is necessary to strengthen the deep participation of industry, clarify the duties and roles of "industry advisors," and enhance resource sharing and joint standard research between universities and industries in areas such as curriculum development, course operation, practical training, and degree conferment.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)