Illustration of a nationwide undergraduate university devoted solely to cybersecurity, situated in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province. Photo: Hubei Fabu
A university devoted solely to cybersecurity, situated in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province, will start enrolling college students in autumn of 2026, in accordance to an announcement launched by Hubei Fabu, the province’s authorities WeChat account.
This marks the first time {that a} standalone university devoted to cybersecurity has been arrange in China.
Approved by the Ministry of Education on March 12, it would initially supply 4 undergraduate majors—synthetic intelligence (AI), knowledge science and massive knowledge know-how, software program engineering, and laptop science and know-how—to align with nationwide improvement methods, the announcement mentioned.
The university goals to domesticate strategic, high-end, and application-oriented cybersecurity professionals for presidency companies, operators of crucial data infrastructure, and central state-owned enterprises, offering expertise assist and technological backing for nationwide cybersecurity and high-quality financial and social improvement, mentioned the announcement.
In addition, the university will work carefully with main cybersecurity and knowledge know-how companies, together with 360 and Sugon Information Industry, to set up 13 specialised laboratories and 28 internship and coaching bases, in accordance to Hubei Fabu. The initiative goals to combine tutorial coaching with hands-on apply, enabling college students to develop each theoretical data and operational abilities and develop into multidisciplinary professionals able to getting into the cybersecurity area instantly after commencement.
Previously, cybersecurity-focused faculties had been usually established as subordinate faculties inside main universities, resembling Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, and Zhejiang University.
The transfer marks a forward-looking effort by China to handle AI system safety on the supply via expertise improvement, mentioned Chen Jing, a vice chairman of the Technology and Strategy Research Institute, including that such a expertise cultivation technique is of main significance for stopping potential systemic dangers that might come up from the large-scale deployment of AI in the long run.
As front-end AI programs are more and more deployed in authorities providers and demanding infrastructure, and AI agent software program resembling OpenClaw fuels a surge of curiosity in AI purposes, rising dangers—together with algorithmic bias, knowledge poisoning and adversarial assaults—have gotten more and more distinguished, Chen advised the Global Times on Monday.
As early as early 2025, when DeepSeek surged in reputation, native governments throughout China began to combine the mannequin into their programs to present AI-powered authorities providers to residents.
More lately, because the starting of 2026, an open-source AI agent generally known as OpenClaw has gained traction in the worldwide tech group, in accordance to Xinhua News Agency. This sort of AI instruments, able to executing real-world duties and performing on behalf of customers, have more and more entered the general public highlight, drawing widespread consideration, in accordance to Xinhua News Agency.
Recently, authorities companies in a number of areas have organized particular coaching periods on OpenClaw to introduce and expertise the know-how’s real-world software eventualities, in accordance to a report by The Paper on March 11. Meanwhile, related Chinese authorities have additionally responded to potential safety dangers related to OpenClaw.
The National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT) on Tuesday issued a danger alert concerning the protected use of OpenClaw, advising related organizations and particular person customers to strengthen community controls when deploying and utilizing OpenClaw, improve credential administration, strictly handle plugin sources, and repeatedly monitor patches and safety updates.
“Large-scale deployment of AI is irreversible. The question is no longer whether to use it, but how to use it and how to manage the risks,” Chen mentioned.
As AI capabilities strengthen in sectors resembling authorities decision-making, vitality grids and monetary danger management, it would transfer past being merely an ‘auxiliary instrument’ and more and more towards autonomous decision-making, Chen mentioned.
“At the same time, new forms of AI-enabled attacks are likely to emerge, including targeting government systems and industrial AI models or poisoning training data to disrupt supply chains. That is why it is essential to simulate potential threats in advance and deploy solutions early, with professional talent serving as a critical pillar,” Chen mentioned.