Vice-Minister of Education Wei Yu made these remarks at an international symposium about developing policies for the tertiary education system, which opened Monday in Beijing.

Wei said that, with the coming of a knowledge-based economy, higher education has come to play an unprecedentedly important role in developed countries as well as in China.

Higher education in China will face two turning points in the next century: the full transition from a planned to a market economy and the shift from an elitist education system to one that targets the masses, said Wei.

China will work out new policies or readjust the existing system to further promote higher education, she added.

The symposium was held by the Ministry of Education and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to exchange views on widening tertiary education in China and in the OECD member countries.

Tertiary education includes all post-high school learning programs designed to provide the public with higher-level and more flexible study conditions, according to Zhang Li, director-general of China's National Center for Education Development Research.

China is introducing a tertiary education system to supplement its existing higher education system, which is mainly based on regular colleges and universities. The move aims to expand the chances for the country's large population to have a good education, said Zhang.

Barry McGaw, deputy-director for education with the OECD, said the OECD countries are beginning to think in terms of "tertiary education" rather than "higher education" to provide lifelong study opportunities for people.

The OECD is an international organization founded in 1961 to co-ordinate the economic policies of industrialized nations.

Tertiary education must take account of national interests and improve individual competence. OECD members, like China, must also reform their education systems to promote such an education system, said McGaw.

In the next 10 years, China will further develop its post-high school education systems.

(China Daily 11/28/2000)