https://j.people.com.cn/n3/2026/0429/c95952-20451683.html
The Ministry of Education recently released the “Catalog of Undergraduate Majors in General Higher Education Institutions (2026)”. Driven by the imperatives of scientific and technological innovation, industrial development, and national strategic needs, this initiative aims to continuously enhance the capacity of higher education to support and contribute to high-quality development.
To strengthen the coordination of academic discipline catalogs—specifically by promoting the organic linkage and vertical consistency between the undergraduate catalog and the graduate-level catalog—and to better address the needs of emerging interdisciplinary fields and the cultivation of multidisciplinary talent, the 2026 Undergraduate Major Catalog has introduced new additions. Under the “Interdisciplinary Fields” category, in addition to the 11 majors already listed in the existing catalog (such as Future Robotics and Interdisciplinary Engineering), four newly included majors—including Embodied AI and BMI (Brain-Machine Interface) Technology—have been listed for the first time. Currently, the undergraduate major catalog encompasses a total of 13 fields, 92 major categories, and 883 specific majors.
This year, the Ministry of Education is continuing to promote the adjustment and optimization of major offerings, guiding and supporting universities in actively establishing new majors that align with national strategies and the demands of modern industrial development. To precisely address national strategic needs, new majors such as Energy Science and Engineering, and Deep Earth Science and Engineering are being established. To support the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries, new majors such as Transportation-Energy Fusion Engineering and Agricultural Robotics are being introduced. To drive the innovative development of emerging and future industries, new majors such as Biomanufacturing and Brain-Machine Science and Technology are being established. Finally, to underpin the expansion of capabilities and quality improvement within the service sector, new majors such as Digital Cultural Tourism and Business AI (Artificial Intelligence) are being created. Focusing on the construction of new forms of the smart economy, new academic majors—such as Digital Trade and Digital Finance—will be established.
Furthermore, the mechanism for the rapid establishment of strategically urgent majors will be further refined. This includes supporting the launch of new majors in “Embodied AI” at nine universities—including Harbin Institute of Technology and Beihang University—thereby promoting the deep integration of next-generation AI with the real economy and fostering high-quality economic and social development.