University principals attending the Sino-US State University Principals' Forum said in Chengdu Wednesday (June 1st) that universities should be closer to society.

Xie Heping, president of Sichuan University, the host of the forum, said one of the important functions of the state-owned universities is to serve society.

He said universities have exerted greater influence on the social economy since the advent of a knowledge-based economy.

At the forum held in the southwest China city of Chengdu, Michael Crow, principal of Arizona State University of the United States, challenged the past "gold standard" for judging state universities based on the faculty and the source of enrollment.

Almost all the universities in the United States imitate the modes of Harvard or Columbia University and the result is that all of them have the same subject setup, said the principal.

Crow said the universities should admit students based on their entire middle school education rather than their scores on entrance exams. Scientific and technological researchers should take the public interest into consideration while doing research.

Principals of more than 30 Chinese universities and 11 US universities attended the two-day forum and discussed the role that state universities play in developing local economies and promoting social development.