BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China has advanced comprehensive education reform to better address the needs of students and social and economic development, China's Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng said Tuesday.

According to Huai, the country has been making adjustments to the allocation of education resources, moving away from a sole focus on higher education enrollment by developing middle schools in county-level regions and advancing reforms in senior high school and college entrance examinations.

In the realm of higher education, China is also exploring ways to diversify students' development pathways. For instance, in the "outstanding engineer education and training program," postgraduate students can apply for academic degrees by submitting patents or product and project designs, Huai said.

This is a historic step in reforming a system where degrees are awarded solely on the basis of dissertations, he added.

China is also advancing reforms to better align the supply and demand of professionals, Huai said, noting that the country now releases an annual list of urgently needed disciplines to meet the needs of social and economic development. ■