Cherry blossoms bloom in front of the library at Nanjing Forestry University in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. [Photo/CFP]

East China's Jiangsu province has made substantial progress in the high-quality development of its higher education over the past 10 years, authorities said at a news conference on Aug 30.

According to Yang Shubing, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education, the gross college enrollment ratio in Jiangsu increased from 47 percent in 2012 to 65 percent in 2021. This enrollment ratio is 7.2 percentage points higher than China's average.

Jiangsu is currently home to 168 colleges, the most in the country. From 2012-21, a total of 5.57 million college students in the province had graduated. In 2021 alone, 601,000 college students graduated.

During the same period, the number of majors offered at Jiangsu's colleges expanded 60 percent to more than 4,000. College majors have also been constantly improved to meet the needs of different industries.

Sixteen colleges and 48 majors in Jiangsu were included in China's second list of first-class universities and disciplines, while 34 universities and 214 disciplines in the province were rated among the top one percent in ESI (Essential Science Indicators) ranking, noted Yang.

By the end of 2021, Jiangsu's universities had 92,000 sci-tech personnel, up 50.8 percent compared to 2012. These universities are home to 79 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as well as over 1,800 high-level talents who account for about 10 percent of the nation's total.

The spending on scientific research by universities in Jiangsu reached 28.55 billion yuan ($4.13 billion) in 2021, 2.4 times that of 2012. Meanwhile, 69 national-level key laboratories have been built by the province's universities.

More than 70 percent of Jiangsu's college graduates stayed in the province to start their careers.