During a media trip to the university, Xi says this new education model would be pivotal in reforming higher education in China so as to arm today's students with the necessary skills in an increasingly digitized world.

"The current higher education model is focused largely on disciplinary education, which means students are restricted to studying just one area regardless of how diverse their interests are. This is too narrow a learning process for them," says Xi.

"Also, we need to start thinking about artificial intelligence and what it can do. Many students today could be replaced by AI in the years to come. As such, it's important for us to rethink the current education model and how we can teach students skills that would still be relevant in the future."

Xi says this new education model would feature a more comprehensive learning of the tech industries, including robotics, internet of things and smart manufacturing, and the integration of this knowledge with liberal arts education, traditional disciplinary education and management skills.