China will have 2 and 2.6 million on-campus graduate students by 2020, about twice the present figure and twice as many as the total trained over the past 23 years.

About 220,000 of these students will be studying for a doctor's degree, said sources attending the annual conference for deans of graduate schools over the weekend at Fudan University in Shanghai.

A draft blueprint for China's postgraduate education development 2006-2020 was submitted for deliberation at the conference, according to which China will build 100 high-level training bases and help 30 domestic universities attain international fame by 2010.

On this basis, China will train a large number of senior professionals who can contribute greatly to the country's scientific and technological development, says the draft blueprint.

It says China will work to improve the overall quality of graduate students, particularly their creativity, practical skills and ethics.

The document also encourages graduate schools to carry out interdisciplinary researches and train multidisciplinary professionals. Schools will have to build a high-caliber team of teachers, at least 80 percent of whom have to hold a doctor's degree.

Graduate students have proven an important force in China's scientific research as 70 percent of the vital research findings that affect our way of life are reported at graduate schools and involve graduate students.

Experts at the conference agree that China faces the critical task of improving its postgraduate education system because the country needs high-caliber professionals to sustain its fast-growing economy, particularly now that a growing number of international education institutions are competing for straight-A Chinese graduates.

Editor: Wing