A university dedicated exclusively to cybersecurity, located in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, will begin enrolling students in autumn of 2026, according to an announcement released by Hubei Fabu, the province's government WeChat account.
Illustration of a national undergraduate university dedicated exclusively to cybersecurity, located in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province. (Photo: Hubei Fabu)
This marks the first time that a standalone university dedicated to cybersecurity has been set up in China.
Approved by the Ministry of Education on March 12, it will initially offer four undergraduate majors—artificial intelligence (AI), data science and big data technology, software engineering, and computer science and technology—to align with national development strategies, the announcement said.
The university aims to cultivate strategic, high-end, and application-oriented cybersecurity professionals for government agencies, operators of critical information infrastructure, and central state-owned enterprises, providing talent support and technological backing for national cybersecurity and high-quality economic and social development, said the announcement.
In addition, the university will work closely with leading cybersecurity and information technology firms, including 360 and Sugon Information Industry, to establish 13 specialized laboratories and 28 internship and training bases, according to Hubei Fabu. The initiative aims to integrate academic training with hands-on practice, enabling students to develop both theoretical knowledge and operational skills and grow into multidisciplinary professionals capable of entering the cybersecurity field immediately after graduation.
Previously, cybersecurity-focused schools were typically established as subordinate colleges within major universities, such as Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, and Zhejiang University.
The move marks a forward-looking effort by China to address AI system security at the source through talent development, said Chen Jing, a vice president of the Technology and Strategy Research Institute, adding that such a talent cultivation strategy is of major significance for preventing potential systemic risks that could arise from the large-scale deployment of AI in the future.
As front-end AI systems are increasingly deployed in government services and critical infrastructure, and AI agent software such as OpenClaw fuels a surge of interest in AI applications, emerging risks—including algorithmic bias, data poisoning and adversarial attacks—are becoming increasingly prominent, Chen told the Global Times on Monday.
As early as early 2025, when DeepSeek surged in popularity, local governments across China started to integrate the model into their systems to provide AI-powered government services to citizens.
More recently, since the beginning of 2026, an open-source AI agent known as OpenClaw has gained traction in the global tech community, according to Xinhua News Agency. This kind of AI tools, capable of executing real-world tasks and acting on behalf of users, have increasingly entered the public spotlight, drawing widespread attention, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Recently, government agencies in several regions have organized special training sessions on OpenClaw to introduce and experience the technology's real-world application scenarios, according to a report by The Paper on March 11. Meanwhile, relevant Chinese authorities have also responded to potential security risks associated with OpenClaw.
The National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT) on Tuesday issued a risk alert regarding the safe use of OpenClaw, advising relevant organizations and individual users to strengthen network controls when deploying and using OpenClaw, enhance credential management, strictly manage plugin sources, and continuously monitor patches and security 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 said.
As AI capabilities strengthen in sectors such as government decision-making, energy grids and financial risk control, it will move beyond being merely an 'auxiliary tool' and increasingly toward autonomous decision-making, Chen said.
"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 said.