On February 26, 2025, People’s Daily published a comprehensive report titled “Taizhou University: Fulfilling the Mission of ‘Running a University, Prospering a City’ and Building a High-Level Application-Oriented University with Distinctive Features,” highlighting the university’s remarkable achievements in areas such as Party building and ideological education, teaching and learning, talent cultivation, deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, management services, and university-city symbiosis.
The article emphasized that the university adheres to the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, focusing on “what to cultivate”; promotes university-city symbiosis and mutual benefits, exploring “how to cultivate”; and upholds Party-led development, keeping in mind “for whom to cultivate.” It also introduces the university’s initiatives and accomplishments in advancing the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, fully acknowledging its positive contributions to local development.
This special report by People’s Daily have not only recognized the university’s achievements but also garnered much social attention. Moving forward, the university will continue to “unite internal strengths and enhance external image,” actively explore unique highlights of high-quality development, coordinate online and offline communication, and effectively tell its story to further enhance its reputation and visibility. This will create a favorable public environment for accelerating the university’s transformation into a higher-level application-oriented institution with distinctive features.
The full text of the People’s Daily report is reproduced and translated below:
In recent years, Taizhou University has comprehensively implemented the Party’s education policy, centered on the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education. With strong support from the Taizhou Municipal Party Committee and Government, the university has deeply practiced the university-city symbiosis development strategy, adhered to the integrated development of education, science, technology, and talent cultivation, and strived to build a high-level application-oriented university with distinctive features. It promotes technological innovation, serves society, carries forward traditions, and fulfills its mission of “running a university, prospering a city” to drive high-quality development across all its endeavors.
Upholding the Fundamental Mission of Fostering Virtue Through Education
Taizhou University leverages its leadership role in the Taizhou City Alliance for Integrated Ideological and Political Education in Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Schools to create a model for such integrated education and enhance its “Harmony-Oriented Ideological and Political Education” brand. The university has produced the original drama Youth·Encounter, themed on the reclamation spirit of Dachen Island in Taizhou, which has received widespread acclaim. It has also launched a residential college system reform, strengthening mentorship, general education, and quality development, and building a dual-college (academic + residential) collaborative education mechanism that fosters a student-faculty community. Specialized teams have been established to advance the “three synergies, three integrations, and three mechanisms” model for curriculum ideological and political education. Centered on the concept of “harmony and excellence,” the university has formulated general education goals and optimized its system to deepen teaching and research in this area.
Promoting University-City Symbiosis and Exploring Cultivation Methods
Taizhou University aligns with regional economic and social development needs by optimizing its disciplinary layout and innovative applied talent cultivation models. Over the past four years, it has phased out nine majors (including Information Management and Information Systems, Marketing) and added nine new ones (such as Intelligent Manufacturing Engineering and Cyberspace Security). According to President Yue Chuanyong, the university has initially formed four major disciplinary clusters— “Pharmaceuticals and Health, Ecology and Habitat, Data and Intelligent Manufacturing, Humanities and Social Services”—primarily focused on science, engineering, and medicine, matching regional development needs.
In industry-education integration, the university adheres to an outcome-oriented approach to cultivate high-quality applied talents. It has implemented the “843” Innovative Talent Cultivation Pilot Program, aligning with local industry and social talent demands, and launched the “1+X” Micro-Major Pilot Program to encourage interdisciplinary composite talent development. Leveraging platforms such as modern industrial colleges, industry research institutes, and the “1139 Technology Squads,” the university has formed a closed-loop mechanism for high-quality outcome-oriented talent cultivation.
Additionally, Taizhou university focuses on the “Six Top-tiers” (top-tier majors, courses, teachers, students, awards, and textbooks) to advance high-quality talent cultivation goals. It has enhanced teaching capabilities through faculty innovation competitions and encouraged student participation in innovation, entrepreneurship, and academic contests, improving their learning experiences and employability. Since 2021, over 10,000 students have participated in various innovation and entrepreneurship practices annually.
Strengthening Party-Led Development
The university’s Party Committee leverages first-class Party building to energize high-quality development, implementing the “Strengthening Colleges to Promote Departments, Building a Strong University” initiative. It focuses on strengthening the “one system,” deepening “dual integration,” improving “three mechanisms,” and promoting “four actions” to continuously enhance branch Party organization construction. In 2024, the university was selected as a cultivation object for the fourth batch of Zhejiang Province’s university Party building projects. In 2025, it was awarded two projects under the Ministry of Education’s Comprehensive Reform and Quality Improvement Program for Ideological and Political Work in Colleges and Universities.
In 2024, the university proposed building “the most student-caring university” and launched ten actions to “enhance education quality and create a student-centered university.”
Deepening Technological and Industrial Innovation for Local Development
Taizhou University has promoted deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, establishing comprehensive partnerships with all nine counties/districts in Taizhou, covering industrial cooperation platforms and projects across the city. The Taizhou Biomedical Industry Research Institute, based at the university, has flexibly introduced two academician teams and one Changjiang Scholar team. Aligning with Zhejiang Province’s “315” Technological Innovation System and Taizhou’s “5+5+6” Modern Industrial System, the university has co-established key laboratories with multiple enterprises. According to Party Secretary Zhu Jian, the university adheres to a Party-building chain that guides the talent chain, empowers the industrial chain, and nurtures the education chain, serving high-quality industrial development and rural revitalization through over 50 joint Party-building activities.
The university’s “One PhD, One Enterprise; One Team, One Industry” initiative has formed 107 “1139 Technology Squads” led by professors and doctoral students, addressing industrial pain points. Annually, over 3,000 personnel have participated in technological services, supporting over 500 enterprises and generating nearly 10 billion yuan in economic benefits.
Looking Ahead
Taizhou University will remain deeply rooted in Taizhou, carrying forward the spirit of educational excellence, contributing to high-quality development in China’s applied education, setting benchmarks for local universities, and striving to cultivate high-quality applied talents with “national pride, reclamation aspirations, and solid expertise.”
