Education is the bedrock of national rejuvenation and the vanguard of social progress. It is a noble endeavor whose benefits span generations—an undertaking of profound virtue and lasting impact. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, the Party Central Committee, with General Secretary Xi Jinping at its core, has elevated education to the status of a fundamental national and Party strategy. With unwavering resolve, it has advanced the principle of education-first development, formulating major decisions to expedite educational modernization and build a strong educational sector.
Under this guidance, China’s education enterprise has achieved historic breakthroughs and undergone structural transformation. The country now possesses the largest education system in the world, and its level of educational modernization ranks among the highest globally.
In a series of seminal statements, General Secretary Xi Jinping has offered profound insights into the essence of education, decisively addressing its fundamental questions—its purposes, standards, and approaches. His remarks have deepened the theoretical understanding of the laws governing China’s educational development and provide essential guidance for running education that satisfies the people on the new journey in the New Era. They serve as a compass for fully implementing the Party's educational policy, ensuring the all-round development of students in terms of morality, intellectual ability, physical fitness, aesthetic sensibility, and work skills to carry on the cause of socialism, and laying a solid foundation for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
To assist officials and the broader public in studying and applying Xi Jinping’s thought on education, we have compiled the volume On Education, which brings together 47 of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s major writings and speeches on education since the 18th National Congress. Several of these documents are being published here for the first time.
Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee
August 2024