Lingang to spearhead social services reform

The Lingang Special Area not only plays a leading role in the country’s economic reform and institutional innovation but will also spearhead the construction of a high-quality social services system and make breakthroughs in education and healthcare, Shanghai government said on Tuesday.

In line with the planning for the construction of a high-quality social service system in Lingang, the special area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone will become a pilot zone for the reform and opening-up of education and a leading area with a high-quality health service, according to Chen Shiyan, deputy director of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission.

In education, major tasks include the building of a core area of industry integrated education. A number of high-level colleges, disciplines and experimental training platforms will be built in connection with the key industries in the special area while the establishment of vocational or secondary schools with mixed ownership will be explored to promote school enterprise cooperation, Chen said.

The plan proposes to introduce prestigious universities from overseas and focus on fundamental research and industrial innovation to create high-level research institutes, new models of lifelong education, and encourage qualified international education resources to run schools, Chen added.

Wu Wei, deputy director of the Lingang Special Area administrative committee, said construction of the east campus of Shanghai High School, Lingang Youth Activity Center and a number of public schools is underway and expected to be completed and put into operation in 2023.

Lingang is also introducing high-quality vocational schools from Germany and promoting the construction of a work-integrated education base jointly run by local enterprises and schools, Wu said.

Mao Lijuan, deputy director of the Shanghai Education Commission, said Lingang’s reform in education will support the construction of high-level vocational schools to serve leading industries and talent in the special area, cultivate high-quality technical talent, and support local universities to establish a number of modern industrial schools.

“The reform will support the cultivation of new industrial universities, focus on integrated circuits, artificial intelligence and other key fields, and build an integrated system of vocational training plus academic education plus an open platform.”

Mao added: “It will also support the introduction of high-quality overseas education resources, learn from foreign vocational education system, and build a university with applied sciences and technologies to serve the industries in Lingang.”

Mao encouraged leading enterprises in Lingang to develop a certificating system in skills for vocational studies and the implementation of modern apprenticeships.

Chen said the major tasks in health include building an advanced public health service system with integration of treatment and prevention, accelerating construction of monitoring and early warning and emergency treatment capacity, improving the level of major epidemic response, strengthening whole life cycle health management, and improving early screening and mental health intervention for key diseases.

“Lingang will build a smart, convenient, comprehensive and efficient primary medical service system, introduce world-class general practice clinics, and develop remote diagnosis and other smart medical services,” Chen said. “At the same time, explore the establishment of a new mode of health consortium with close cooperation between city-level comprehensive hospitals and community health centers, and improve the level of community medical services.”

Wu said efforts would be made to promote the reconstruction and expansion of the Lingang campus of Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital, while Wanxiang and Shengang community health service centers will be built and put into operation next year.

Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission, said that in the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan, a regional medical center, a traditional Chinese medicine hospital and a public health center will also be built in the special area.