BEIJING, June 28 -- A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Wednesday emphasized the Party's authority over higher education institutes.

The meeting, presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, was held to review a report on the Party's inspection of 31 major universitates.

Higher education should be a nurturing environment for the inheritors of the socialist cause and support the development of Marxism, according to a statement released after the meeting.

Inspectors have carried out "thorough political examinations" of 31 major universities, including Peking University and Tsinghua University.

The inspection confirmed that the Party's leadership had been strengthened at the universities and the experience had improved Party governance while maintaining the high standards of education at the institutes, said the statement.

In order to better manage socialist higher education with Chinese characteristics, universities must not err from the Party line, according to the statement.

It stressed that Party committees of institutes of higher education should continue to implement the Party's education policies and uphold the authority and the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee.

The institutions were told to improve the campus, faculty and student environment and to promote Party building to enable Party organizations and Party members to better play a pioneering role, it said.

It also called for strict intra-Party political life.

Over the last five years, the inspection system has promoted the institutionalization of intra-Party supervision, it said.

The central authorities will review the inspection work during the term of the 18th CPC Central Committee, improve the system and expand the scope of inspections, according to the statement.