BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Fresh from completing China's rigorous college entrance exam, over 13 million high school graduates applying to university this year are faced with an intriguing academic path: the country's first bachelor's program entirely dedicated to pets.

Launched by the China Agricultural University (CAU), the four-year undergraduate program in companion animal science aims to train experts in pet nutrition, behavior, breeding, and care -- meeting both student aspirations and the growing demands of China's pet industry.

Unlike traditional animal science programs that concentrate on livestock such as pigs, chickens, cattle and sheep, the companion animal program focuses on pets like cats, dogs and horses. Fifty students will be admitted in the inaugural class. Upon graduation, they will receive a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree.

"The curriculum is structured around real-world industry demands," said Liu Guoshi, vice dean of the College of Animal Science of the CAU. "Courses include companion animal breeding, nutritional metabolism, feed processing, reproductive physiology, animal welfare and behavior studies, among other specialized courses."

While the program may sound novel to some, it represents a significant transformation in Chinese higher education -- a strategic shift away from traditional, supply-driven offerings toward demand-led disciplines tailored for emerging sectors.

China's educational authority has called for dynamic optimization of academic disciplines to ensure alignment with economic priorities. In a notice on graduate employment for 2025, the Ministry of Education (MOE) urged universities to anticipate labor market shifts and accelerate the roll-out of emerging programs.

China's pet economy offers a compelling case for this transformation. In 2024, the country's urban population owned more than 120 million cats and dogs, driving a pet economy worth over 300 billion yuan (around 42 billion U.S. dollars).

However, the rapid growth of the pet economy has outpaced the supply of trained professionals. While about 500,000 pet-related businesses are now registered in China -- ranging from pet food and supplies to grooming, insurance, and behavior training -- the sector suffers from acute labor shortages.

For example, in veterinary care alone, more than 30,000 pet hospitals operate with just 40,000 certified veterinarians. That's roughly one vet per clinic.

"The shortage of skilled professionals is one of the biggest constraints on the industry's healthy development," said Yan Jinsheng, vice chairman of the China Pet Industry Association. Yan mentioned that nearly every segment, from grooming and health care to behavior training, is experiencing staffing bottlenecks.

The companion animal science program is designed to address this gap. Graduates will be well-prepared for a wide range of careers -- from conventional roles in pet food R&D, breeding operations and veterinary clinics to emerging specialties like pet genetic testing consultants and professional pet behavior trainers.

Their expertise will also be valued in academic research, government regulatory bodies and industry associations, Liu noted.

The launch of this new program has sparked lively discussions on social media. On Xiaohongshu, the Chinese platform known overseas as "rednote," a user named Liuliu joked, "With my dog by my side, I could study all the way to a PhD!"

This "pet program" exemplifies how Chinese universities are recalibrating curricula to meet real-world demands.

The strategy builds on proven results: In 2024, the Yunnan Agricultural University launched the country's first coffee science undergraduate program as domestic consumption skyrocketed -- a market that surpassed the United States in 2023 to claim the world's largest number of coffee outlets.

This industry-aligned approach is scaling nationwide. In the updated catalog of undergraduate majors for regular colleges and universities released by the MOE in April, newly established programs such as AI education, carbon neutrality science and engineering, and low-altitude technology and engineering have been specifically designed to address the pressing need for skilled professionals in rapidly expanding industries.

Amid mounting graduate numbers and growing skills mismatches, updating the national catalogue of academic majors has become a key policy tool to better align university programs with industry needs, job demand, and technical standards, thus promoting employment, said Zhang Duanhong, director of the Education Policy Research Center at Tongji University.