China cuts over 12,000 university programs to prioritize AI, robotics and semiconductors

China is undertaking an unprecedented restructuring of higher education. Between 2021‑2025, the Ministry of Education reports that more than 12,200 undergraduate programmes have been withdrawn, suspended or merged, representing roughly 30 % of the nation’s total offerings.

At the same time about 10,200 new majors are being introduced, centred on high‑tech fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, semiconductors, data science, smart manufacturing and “embodied intelligence”. Disciplines judged to have surplus labour—arts, humanities, product design, foreign languages and management—are being reduced. Universities are consolidating or dropping specific programmes to shift resources toward these strategic areas. The reform aims to align graduate output with labour‑market demand and strengthen China’s position in the global technology race.