Abstract: Against the backdrop of complex risks such as great power competition and major social challenges, strengthening autonomous talent cultivation capacity has become a critical pillar for advancing Chinese-style modernization. As the core battleground for the nation’s participation in global knowledge competition, higher education is shifting its reform focus from scale expansion to capacity building for high-quality and sustainable development. This paper analyzes the integrated trinity of education, science and technology, and talent in response to the “middle-income trap-like dilemma faced by China’s higher education, and systematically explains the necessity of enhancing autonomous talent cultivation, the pathways to be constructed, and effective implementation strategies. Specifically, it constructs a three-dimensional autonomous cultivation model encompassing “education-teaching, innovative demand, and institutional supply”, with core pathways including efficient teacher-student interaction, project-based industry-education integration, and structural integration of multi-source resources. Leveraging digital transformation, it further drives innovations in three governance mechanisms: “master-led guidance”, “project matching”, and “resource integration.” The study posits that the integrated logic of education, science and technology, and talent not only serves as a theoretical fulcrum for overcoming current dilemmas but also as a practical direction for building a high-quality autonomous talent cultivation system. Looking toward the Industry 4.0 era, advancing digital-supported educational governance reform is identified as a key pathway to achieving national rejuvenation through science and education and ensuring the supply of top-tier talents.

Key words: Integration of Education, Technology and Talent; Higher Education; Independent Training of Talents; Digital Education Ecology; Industry-education Integration