Moonshot Thinking is a strategic education consulting company headquartered in Beijing, dedicated to providing cutting-edge, practical, and system-oriented reform solutions for higher education institutions across China. Rooted in China’s national strategies for education modernization and high-quality development, we focus on key themes such as the integration of education and technology, the reconstruction of talent systems, the modernization of university governance, and regional collaboration between education and industry—all through the lens of the newly emerging concept of “new quality productive forces.”
Named after the spirit of “moonshot” ambition, our identity reflects a commitment to bold imagination and transformative change. We do not settle for incremental reform. Instead, we advocate for a future-oriented vision, system-level design, and the courage to challenge conventions—advancing structural innovation in China’s higher education system.
Our Mission: Shaping a Higher Education System for the Era of New Quality Productive Forces
In an era of rapidly evolving knowledge structures and global production relations, China has introduced the concept of “new quality productive forces” as a strategic national imperative. Grounded in this framework, Moonshot Thinking supports the structural transformation of higher education around three core missions:
- From knowledge supply to a capability ecosystem: We help universities align curricula with the demands of emerging industries, creating interdisciplinary, practice-oriented, and integrative teaching models.
- From degree-based education to competency certification: We assist institutions in establishing digital, outcome-driven evaluation mechanisms that reshape how talent is selected, cultivated, and recognized.
- From disciplinary silos to problem-driven research: We guide the reorganization of academic structures and research agendas to focus on solving national strategic tasks and complex societal problems.
Our Services
We provide comprehensive consulting services to universities, educational groups, and innovation-focused institutions, including:
- Strategic Higher Education Transformation: Developing long-term “blueprints for development” aligned with China’s 2035 education goals, including institutional positioning, developmental priorities, and key implementation pathways.
- Curricular Innovation for Emerging Industries: Helping universities design educational content and organizational models aligned with frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum information, renewable energy, and deep-sea technology.
- Think Tank & Research Institute Incubation: Supporting the establishment of institutional think tanks, engineering innovation centers, and digital education research institutes that synergize with national priorities.
- Modern University Governance Reform: Enhancing institutional governance through organizational streamlining, performance-based budgeting, faculty differentiation strategies, and student participatory governance mechanisms.
- Regional Industry-Education Integration Planning: Assisting local governments and university clusters in building collaborative platforms across government, industry, academia, and research, driving mutual reinforcement between educational reform and industrial upgrading.
- Digital Transformation of Higher Education: Providing end-to-end support for the creation of smart campuses, big data-driven teaching platforms, and the integration of AI-powered learning technologies.
Our Research Framework: From Systemic Insight to Actionable Design
Moonshot Thinking employs a “deep insight + strategic implementation” methodology. Through systems thinking, complexity modeling, and futures studies, we conduct in-depth structural analysis of higher education systems to uncover the causal mechanisms of reform. Our proprietary Moonshot Transformation Framework is structured around four synergistic dimensions:
- Technological Innovation Drivers
- Institutional Field Restructuring
- Talent Development Pathways
- Regional Co-construction Mechanisms
Our Values
- Foresight – We go beyond short-term metrics to focus on the 20-year transformation of talent structures and knowledge systems.
- Connectivity – We dismantle the silos between education, technology, industry, and policy to foster collaborative synergies.
- Experimentation – We value risk-tolerant innovation spaces and adaptive systems that support sustainable educational breakthroughs.
- Public Good – We believe in returning to the core public value of education: to serve national development and empower the people.
Partnerships and Future Vision
We have established long-term collaborations with leading institutions such as Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Sun Yat-sen University. We also serve as strategic advisors to multiple provincial-level educational planning initiatives.
Looking ahead, Moonshot Thinking will continue to expand its research and service footprint in areas such as international alliances for engineering education, and strategies for carbon-neutral education transformation.
We believe the key to higher education reform lies not in replicating past successes, but in imagining what has never been tried before. Moonshot Thinking invites universities, government bodies, and industry partners to join us in co-creating bold, future-ready answers for education in the 21st century.