Research on the Development of New-Business Vocational Education in the Context of Capacity Expansion and Quality Enhancement in the Service Sector

Abstract Expanding the capacity and enhancing the quality of the service sector is a major arrangement for economic restructuring during China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030). As a distinct form of education that prepares digitally competent, interdisciplinary technical and skilled professionals for frontline roles in the service sector, new-business vocational education has a direct bearing on productivity growth and structural upgrading in the sector. As a subsystem serving the service sector, new-business vocational education must pursue high-quality development by following the principles of demand-driven development, reform breakthroughs, technological empowerment, and openness and collaboration. It must also transform the “knowledge potential” of the education chain into the “operational momentum” of the service chain. This article first defines the connotations and characteristics of new-business vocational education, then develops a framework explaining the mechanisms through which it empowers the service sector to expand in scale and improve in quality along four dimensions: demand-driven development, reform breakthroughs, technological empowerment, and openness and collaboration. It then identifies four practical challenges: mismatches in human capital supply, institutional impediments to industry-education integration, digital capability gaps, and barriers to collaborative ecosystems. Finally, it proposes actionable pathways in four areas: dynamic adjustment mechanisms, institutional support and governance innovation, a teaching ecosystem empowered by digital and intelligent technologies, and a multi-stakeholder framework for collaborative talent development.