The core factor of developing new quality productivity is innovation.For China, developing these forces is not just a strategic choice but a necessity to navigate the complexities of economic and social development, and to thrive amidst global scientific and technological revolutions and competitions, alongside the deepening of industrial transformations. The three key components of new quality productive forces are skilled workers, advanced labor materials, and innovative labor objects, such as new materials and energy sources. The associated production relations will also evolve and adapt accordingly. Universities, serving as hubs of talent cultivation and innovation, bear significant responsibilities in nurturing high-quality workers, providing the necessary labor materials, expanding the scope of labor objects, and constructing new types of labor relations. However, universities face serious shortcomings in cultivating top-tier innovative talents, advancing basic and frontier research, and fostering effective industry-university research cooperation. To enhance universities’ capacity in serving the development of new quality productive forces, it is imperative to establish dynamic and effective mechanisms for adjusting disciplines and cultivation modes, optimize the environment for nurturing innovative talents, promote the construction of long-term mechanisms for basic and cutting-edge research, and refine the mechanisms for transforming scientific research achievements and facilitating industry-university research collaboration. Only through these measures can universities, as the cornerstone of societal development, innovative thinking, and value shaping, truly become the focal point for fostering new quality productive forces.