Closer collaboration between universities and industry can better prepare students for China's economic changes, according to Li Qiang, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University.

The State Council recently allowed professors to take leave from their research posts to work in various industries, a move aimed at stimulating professors' enthusiasm, Li said at a symposium earlier this month on China's workforce readiness.

The idea that university professors could leave academia and enter industry for a time was once very popular in China, Li said. It was called xiahai in Chinese, meaning jumping into the business world.