In the spring of 2023, SHI Shaofang, Deputy Director and Senior Engineer at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, chose to "return" to the classroom. Despite holding a master's degree, he enrolled in an undergraduate programme this time.
SHI Shaofang explained that after taking on a management role in 2022, he realised the importance and urgent need to master modern corporate management. Therefore, he joined the part-time undergraduate Business Administration programme at the Experimental College of the Open University of China (OUC). "The small-class teaching and flexible online learning resolve work-study conflicts." SHI said, "More importantly, they allow me to apply what I learn in practice to improve both my job performance and learning outcomes."
As China’s flagship lifelong education institution, OUC has, in recent years, leveraged digitalisation in education to build a lifelong learning network that spans urban and rural areas across the country, reaching thousands of households.
An OUC official shared that the open education platform currently provides stable and efficient large-scale online learning services for 4.43 million active students, with an annual number of visits reaching 15.8 billion. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the entire system has delivered 530 million non-degree education services. In addition, the university has established a national credit bank for vocational education, supported by a network of 21 provincial-level credit banks and 73 learning outcome certification centres within the Open University system. The platform has over 22.23 million users, with 5.3 million vocational skill level certificates verified and recorded on the blockchain.
He also said that the Open Education Platform has implemented a range of artificial intelligence (AI) assistants and digital learning tools tailored to the characteristics of different courses to support student learning. For teaching support, it has developed AI digital instructors capable of providing one-on-one tutoring 24 hours a day. In administrative support, a data cockpit has been created to track 350 key indicators across seven major business areas in real time. For assessment support, the platform conducts large-scale, high-quality online educational evaluations. Additionally, OUC has joined with 25 other universities to establish the “Collaborative Innovation Mechanism for AI-Driven Higher Education,” actively advancing research on new forms of digital universities.
Digital empowerment not only expands the scale of student enrolment but also effectively enhances the quality of teaching.
This March, the Seniors University of China (SUC), launched its new semester with a “First Lecture of the Semester” delivered by ZHONG Nanshan, recipient of the “Medal of the Republic” and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The lecture received widespread praise from learners, with a real-time viewership reaching 12.41 million.
In 2023, SUC was officially established in OUC, along with the development of the National Education Platform for the Elderly. Built upon the OUC’s educational system, the university offers both online and offline teaching activities for elderly learners across the country. Today, the platform hosts 490,000 high-quality courses, enriching the lives of 11.97 million members of the “silver generation.”
In 2025, the Smart Education of China ∙ Lifelong Education Platform was launched, bringing a richer set of digital features to drive the renewal and upgrade of lifelong education. Within just six months of its launch, the platform has delivered a total of 9.63 million services to learners. Most recently, on 26 June, the platform released an additional 3,000 high-quality resources, including dedicated sections on job competency and artificial intelligence, as well as exclusive AI assistants across eight content categories.
“Looking ahead, OUC will focus on three key priorities: promoting employment, advancing career development, and fostering lifelong talent. It will strengthen platform connectivity and sustainable development mechanisms to build a lifelong learning centre that operates across the entire learning cycle, at all times, and in all scenarios, helping every individual become their best selves,” the OUC official said.
Source：China Education Daily