During the conference—“National Undergraduate Education in the New Era”， sponsored by Ministry of Education of the PR China， June， 2018 in Chengdu， Sichuan， 150 higher education institutions jointly released “Declaration of the First-class Undergraduate Education” （also called as “The Declaration of Chengdu”）， which proposed cultivating first-class talent and the building up a top-tier undergraduate education system as follows：

Talent developed through higher education is the foundation of a nation and promotes the prosperity of business. President Xi Jinping points out that higher education is more important than ever before for the development of CPC and the nation. In addition， there is also a thirst for scientific knowledge and the development of human potential and talent. In order to cultivate first-class talent and build up a top-tier， first-class undergraduate education， we 150 higher institutions release the following declaration in Chengdu：

We believe in the cultivation of talent for rejuvenation of the nation as a core mission of higher education. As the Chinese proverb says， “The hundred-year policy is based on education”. A powerful nation’s future is built by providing a top-tier education system to promote human talent and economic and technological growth and development. It is the mission of higher education to cultivate the talent， ability， and integrity of the individual. Socialism in China has entered a new era - a scientific， technological and industrial revolution is occurring in China and in the world. China’s higher education is facing a unique historical opportunity and challenge. The mission of higher education institutions aims to educate and develop a large number of qualified professionals with leadership ability， character， and the skills to provide a solid foundation for the rejuvenation of the nation.

We abide by the principles of “undergraduate education as the foundation” and “Four Returns” （the return of the common sense [thinking/reasoning and problem solving abilities]， the return of the original intentions [core cultural values]， the return of duties [individual character and values]， and the return of dreams [motivation]） in the new round of reform of higher institutions. If we trace back to the birth of modern higher education institutions， we find that their common essential function of personnel development and training has never changed and never wavered. For social and societal development in the present and future， we place undergraduate education in the core position of the personnel training systems. It is the basic structure for teaching and learning in a developed nation and will provide the leading position of the development of education in the new era. We will speed the process of top-tier， first-class undergraduate education to lay a solid foundation for China’s higher education. We will return to common sense， our original position and core values， original intentions and dreams as the basic criterion for the reform and the development of colleges and universities. We will encourage students to study hard and develop their characters and values. And， we will guide teachers to educate people， to cultivate the socialist builders and successors of the comprehensive development of moral and intellectual beauty， and to build up a powerful country of higher education. Therefore， we adhere to the “Four Returns” however higher institutions evolve.

We will promote the establishment of high moral values and the quality of personnel cultivation as the fundamental criterion for the effectiveness for all higher education’s work. We will adhere to the direction of socialist education， and highlight Marx doctrines as the “bright background” in the socialism higher institutions with Chinese characteristics. Higher institutions promote the integration of professional knowledge， as well as ideological and political education， to develop quality education， and to deepen educational reform focusing on motivating students’ interests and potentials， and to improve students’ overall sense of social responsibility， creativity and practical abilities， which offers students the “golden key” to the door of the future， so that they can discern the future acutely， and embrace and lead the future with confidence.

We are committed to imparting knowledge and educating people. We will make great efforts to cultivate the teachers to ensure they are highly qualified as well as ethical individuals. And， we see this as the first criterion in the evaluation of teachers’ qualities as this will ensure the talents of future generations. We will guide teachers to teach positivity and moral integrity and the virtues that make them good role models for their students. Teacher training， promotion， incentives， evaluation， and happiness within the profession will be taken into consideration.

We are committed to improving the connotation of higher education. We will focus on setting up high-level teaching and learning systems that will enhance the development of the disciplines and subjects to face the future， meet social needs， and lead development. We are committed to providing adequate support for these endeavors. We will also update the content of courses and curriculum in higher education and promote new achievement and progress in textbooks in terms of current research， experience and social promotion. Moreover， we will promote a classroom revolution so that it will be an interactive space for developing ideas and inspiring the wisdom of students instead of the traditional lecture and “duck-feeding” classroom. We will promote student-centred and production-oriented classrooms led by motivated and trained teachers to develop and support continuous improvement in self-examination， self-discipline， and self-correction. The aim is for the quality of class activities and education to be internalized as common values and common consciousness among both the teachers and students.

We are committed to leading by example. We must adapt to the new requirements of new technologies， industries， professions and models for the training of talents in the new era. We must reform and accelerate the development of higher education and measure the effects of our efforts. We should speed up our focus on the disciplines of engineering， promote the innovation and development of agriculture， medicine and the liberal arts， and strengthen the cultivation of top， innovative talent in basic science and literature， history， philosophy and economics. We will continue to deepen educational reform through innovation and entrepreneurship to cultivate a great number of youth who will be committed to innovation and entrepreneurship. We should strive to build up world-class higher institutions with our confidence and the important Chinese characteristics of the new socialist era.

We are committed to “track overtaking”. We will deepen “the Internet plus higher education”， break the time and space boundaries of traditional education and school walls， and achieve the “track overtaking” （a metaphor） of higher education through the profound reform of education and teaching modes. We will make great efforts in the application of modern information technology， such as intelligent classrooms， laboratories， and campuses. And， we will explore the implementation of network， digital， intelligent and personalized education， and remould these new forms of teaching and learning. We will develop massive open online courses （abbreviated as MOOC）， especially highly-qualified MOOC courses so that teachers make full use of digital course resources， which helps to the co-build-up and co-sharing of qualified teaching and learning resources among different areas and institutions.

We are committed to fairness and coordination.

We will integrate the development and planning of higher institutions very closely with the layout of the economic belt， urban agglomeration and industrial chains based on the national function layout. We will implement “the Central and Western China Higher Education Revitalization Plan （upgraded version） ” to promote the process of modernization in the central and western regions. Higher institutions will take the “agglomeration-spillover effect” regional-economic-and-social-development-oriented， self-motivated， with “self- hematopoiesis” （a metaphor）， and setting the top goals and their own characteristics.

We are committed to open collaboration.

We will bring together the joint efforts of systems within education to deepen the integration of industrial enterprises and education， and improve the cooperative mechanism among universities， practical departments， scientific research institutes and industrial enterprises. We hope to achieve collaboration in the running， education， employment and development of our higher education systems. We should expand international exchange and cooperation， and serve the “one belt and one road” initiative of the Chinese government， promote the branding of “Study in China”， and collaborate with foreign institutions for producing talents with a broad， international vision for this new era.

We are committed to innovation. Reform is the first driving force and innovation is the first engine. The improvement and development of great education occurs through continuous innovation. Modern history has proven that the rise of world powers and the transfer of higher education centres are always accompanied by the transformation and innovation of higher education. China should be firstly the world’s major higher education centre and the top training base for innovative talents if she wants to become strong and prosperous and to be the world’s major scientific centre and top innovative base. We will make full use of this historical opportunity for the development of higher education. And， we will speed up innovations in the ideology， conceptualization， methodology， technology and models of higher education and move forward our vision for a first-class， top-tier undergraduate education. We move forward， together， and hand-in-hand as colleges and universities committed to this vision of higher education.

【作者簡介】Guang Hai Hou，Southwest University of Science and Technology.