BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- A meeting jointly held by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Ministry of Education emphasized the Party's authority over centrally-administered universities.

Higher education should be a nurturing environment for the inheritors of the socialist cause, adhere to the socialist orientation, and uphold CPC's leadership, according to a statement released Friday.

Universities should be governed by the rule of law and regulations, and their teachers are encouraged to join the Party, said the statement.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC has launched inspections of centrally-administered universities, including China's prestigious Peking and Tsinghua universities, in the first half of this year.

The CCDI has found problems such as weakened Party leadership and corruption risks, saying that CPC committees in these universities have not done sufficient work to act as the core in leading their universities.

Discipline inspectors also found that Party committees in some universities did not carry out serious intra-Party political life and their Party building activities have also been weakened. Enditem