BEIJING - China has new 32 universities introducing undergraduate big data programs this year to address talent shortage, according to the Ministry of Education.

In 2016, Peking University, University of International Business and Economics and Central South University became the first three to recruit undergraduates to majors concerning data science and big data technology.

China encouraged universities to set up new degree programs to cater to social and economic development needs.

According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, by 2018, the United States alone could be short of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills, as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts capable of using the analysis of big data in decision making.