BEIJING -- Lawmakers called for more efforts to bring out the full potential of higher education.

An inspection report on the enforcement of the Higher Education Law has been submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for review at its ongoing bimonthly session, which runs from Oct. 21 to 26.

Hailing the leapfrog development of Chinese higher education, the report said higher education has become increasingly popularized in the past 20 years, with 2,663 universities and colleges nationwide in 2018, 2.6 times the number in 1998.

Luo Yi, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, said attention should be paid to addressing the unbalanced distribution of higher education resources between regions.

Preferential policies should be rolled out to promote the development of higher education in the central and western regions, so as to ensure equitable access to high-quality education resources across the country.

The report uncovered problems with the development of higher education and gave suggestions to fix them, such as strengthening universities' research and innovation capacity and strengthening the competence of teaching staff.

Lawmakers expressed endorsement for the suggestions during panel discussions. Du Xiaoguang, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, stressed deepening reform of the performance assessment and evaluation system for teachers in universities.