Chengdu, April 14 — On April 14, Shi Xiaolin, Deputy Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Sichuan Province, conducted research and coordination visits to Sichuan University, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), and Southwest Jiaotong University. She expressed gratitude to these national-level universities for their contributions to Sichuan’s development and called for deeper implementation of President Xi Jinping’s directives on education, the national education conference guidelines, and Sichuan’s development priorities. The goal is to advance the integrated development of education, science, technology, and talent, strengthen industry linkages, accelerate the cultivation of new quality productive forces, and jointly serve national strategies to drive Sichuan’s high-quality development.
During her visit to Sichuan University, Governor Shi reviewed progress in humanities and social sciences disciplines, polymer materials innovation, and commercialization of scientific achievements. At UESTC, she examined collaborative breakthroughs in neurotechnology, brain-computer interfaces, and intelligent computing. At Southwest Jiaotong University, she inspected R&D applications of atomic-level manufacturing equipment and the operation of the quasi-axisymmetric stellarator test platform. She also discussed the universities’ "Double First-Class" initiatives and graduate employment efforts.
Governor Shi emphasized that universities are vital forces and invaluable assets for Sichuan’s high-quality development. She pledged to deepen university-local integration, supporting institutions in aligning their growth with regional and national strategies. Key priorities include advancing discipline optimization, talent cultivation, scientific innovation, industry-education integration, and social services to build world-class universities with distinct strengths.
She highlighted the need to cultivate well-rounded talent by integrating technological and humanistic education, strengthening ideological and political education, and promoting China’s outstanding traditional culture. Sichuan will support the "Double First-Class" initiative by pioneering innovative talent training models, attracting top-tier scientists and research teams, and restructuring disciplines to meet national and provincial needs in six dominant industries and the "15+N" key industrial chains. Reforms in research evaluation and incentive mechanisms will further unleash innovation potential.
To spur industry-science collaboration, cross-disciplinary platforms, government-industry-academia-research-finance consortiums, and pilot-to-production hubs will be established. Initiatives like "Campus-Enterprise Partnerships: Mining Innovation Treasures" will accelerate technology breakthroughs and industrialize lab achievements. Industrial guidance funds will help expand local industrial ecosystems and attract upstream-downstream enterprises.
On graduate employment, Governor Shi urged pragmatic measures such as expanding internships, increasing campus recruitment, refining career guidance, and prioritizing support for vulnerable groups to ensure high-quality employment outcomes.
The visit was attended by Vice Governor Li Wenqing, Sichuan University Party Secretary Gan Lin, Provincial Government Secretary-General Chen Shuping, leaders of UESTC, Southwest Jiaotong University, and provincial departments.
