General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Revelation of the Laws of Building a Leading Country in Education and His Original Contributions

The development and change of things always follow certain laws that can be discerned. The laws of building a leading country in education are the essential and necessary connections presented by the internal elements of a leading country in education and related things in the process of development, as well as the internal mechanisms and development trends of building a leading country in education. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward a series of new ideas, new viewpoints, and new judgments on issues related to education reform and development, deepening the epochal understanding of the laws of building a leading country in education, and pointing the way for further advancing educational modernization and building a leading country in education. In September 2024, at the National Education Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that “building a leading country in education is a beautiful aspiration that the Chinese nation has dreamed of since modern times, and it is the pioneering task, solid foundation, and strategic support for comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization.” To achieve this strategic goal and advance educational modernization, it is necessary to deeply study and grasp General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on education, reveal General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new understanding of the laws of building a leading country in education and his original contributions, thereby consolidating and strengthening the ideological foundation for building a leading country in education, and further advancing the process of reform and development of China’s educational undertakings.

I. Foundational Elaboration on the Laws of Building a Leading Country in Education

A leading country in education refers to a country possessing strong educational strength, which not only leads other countries in international comparisons but also serves as the internal support for a country to become a comprehensive world power. The laws of building a leading country in education reflect the universal, deep-seated connections existing in the construction of a leading country in education, are the inevitable connections that continuously emerge in the process of transitioning from a large country in education to a leading country in education, and include the basic experiences formed in the process of continuously understanding the characteristics of educational phenomena and solving more complex, deeper-level educational problems. On the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, to accelerate the building of a leading country in education, we need to understand and grasp the process of manifestation, internal composition, and mechanism of action of the laws of building a leading country in education, respect and consciously utilize these laws, thereby better drawing the grand blueprint for building a leading country in education in the New Era by grasping the universal connections inside and outside the construction of a leading country in education.

(I) The Manifestation of the Laws of Building a Leading Country in Education

From the perspective of the manifestation of the laws of building a leading country in education, they gradually emerge in the comprehensive interaction of the relatively independent social macro-system and the educational sub-system, and also emerge in the process where lower-level contradictions in educational construction are basically resolved while higher-level contradictions become further prominent. Like laws hidden in the process of movement waiting to be discovered and understood, the laws of building a leading country in education only gradually manifest when the objective historical process has developed to a certain stage and educational construction has reached a higher level and entered a higher stage, requiring penetrating complex appearances to grasp the inner essence. As Lenin pointed out, “each historical period has its own laws”; different stages of transition from a large country in education to a leading country in education will manifest different development laws, and the reason why laws have different forms of expression mainly lies in objective historical factors. In the macro social system, objective factors have an important impact on the laws of building a leading country in education; whether it is the historical theme, the tasks of the times, cultural resources, or the material base, all affect the process of educational development. For example, when saving the nation was still the main task of the times, education could only serve the needs of the historical trend, guiding and calling on the masses to save the nation from peril, and could not develop beyond the historical stage. In the micro educational sub-system, objective factors also have an important impact on whether the laws of building a leading country in education can be manifested; whether it is the core elements such as educational carriers, educational models, and educational methods, or the outer-layer content such as educational governance and educational evaluation, all affect how much content of the laws of building a leading country in education can be manifested and what forms of action they take. In summary, the laws of building a leading country in education are the stable, inevitable, and epoch-characteristic internal connections further presented in the construction of a leading country in education during the objective development process from a large country in education to a leading country in education, manifested in the actual changes and comprehensive effects of various objective educational factors. Especially with the changes in educational tools and methods brought about by the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, the laws of building a leading country in education will accelerate their manifestation due to changes in actual objective conditions.

(II) The Composition of the Laws of Building a Leading Country in Education

From the perspective of the composition of the laws of building a leading country in education, they are mainly manifested as the development laws of educational elements, the laws of interaction between educational elements, and the laws of interaction between educational elements and the educational environment, which can be roughly divided into three levels: the law of elements, the law of relations, and the law of environment. At the level of the law of elements, although the four basic elements in educational activities—educators, educatees, educational content, and educational materials—each have their unique modes of movement, they all exhibit some stable, traceable necessary connections. For example, from the perspective of the educator element, the growth stages and educational practices of educators are concrete and vivid, reflecting the law of educator growth, the law of educating people, etc. At the level of the law of relations, whether it is the unipolar relationship between educators or between educatees, the bipolar relationship between educators and educatees or between educators and educational content, the tripolar relationship among educators, educatees, and educational content, or even the multipolar relationship where various elements are complexly intertwined, their processes of movement and change also exhibit general characteristics and have certain laws to follow. At the level of the law of environment, the international environment, cultural environment, and social environment all have an impact on the practice of educational construction, causing corresponding changes in educational elements and educational relations, manifesting laws such as the law of adaptation of educational elements and educational relations, the law of interaction between educational elements, educational relations, and the educational environment, and the law of promotion of the educational environment. In essence, the law of elements is the basic component, the law of relations is the core component, and the law of environment is an important component; these three aspects together explain the hierarchical composition of the laws of building a leading country in education.

(III) The Mechanisms of the Laws of Building a Leading Country in Education

For laws to exert their practical effects, they always take certain mechanisms as intermediaries. Just as the structure of life is determined by the translation rules of proteins, the laws of building a leading country in education are the internal code for what kind of leading country in education is built, and their effectiveness needs to be exerted through certain intermediary mechanisms. The functioning of the laws of building a leading country in education takes specific mechanisms at the national, social, and individual levels as intermediaries. Mechanisms at different levels are not only components of the laws of building a leading country in education in a broad sense but also have a key impact on which aspects the laws act on and what kind of effects they produce. At the national level, the mechanism of school-running direction, the mechanism of Party spirit domination, and the mechanism of fundamental tasks play the roles of orientation, tone-setting, and pattern-fixing, stipulating what path the construction of a leading country in education should take and what development goals to achieve. At the social level, the mechanism of resource transformation, the mechanism of value guidance, and the mechanism of collaborative synergy play the roles of empowerment, cohesion, and soul-forging, stipulating how the construction of a leading country in education can fully utilize various resources such as culture and technology and gather various social forces. At the individual level, the mechanism of system coherence, the mechanism of comprehensive education, and the mechanism of characteristic education play the roles of self-cultivation, moral establishment, and talent development, stipulating how the construction of a leading country in education cultivates people and what kind of people to cultivate.

(IV) The Effectiveness of the Laws of Building a Leading Country in Education

In the process of educational reform and development, moving from small to large and from large to strong hinges on innovation. This means promoting various educational innovations through the mutual learning of ancient and modern, and the integration of Chinese and foreign elements, thereby enhancing educational strength and comprehensive national power. First, the law of innovation in educational form and content. With rapid advancements in science and technology, educational reform and innovation must also deepen accordingly. Applying modern information technologies such as the Internet, cloud computing, and big data to the educational process can foster a higher-quality educational environment and create more intelligent teaching methods. Particularly with the rise of generative artificial intelligence, “in-depth exploration of ideas and measures for educational development and innovation under the conditions of rapid AI development” will be the main direction for future educational reform and innovation. Second, the law of innovation in the educational knowledge system. The strength of a strong education country lies not only in hard power but also in soft power, that is, possessing advanced educational concepts and an independent knowledge system. Therefore, based on the most fundamental educational realities, proposing subjective and original theoretical viewpoints, and constructing an independent knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences, will allow our construction of a strong education country to continuously demonstrate its own advantages and unique characteristics. Third, the law of innovation in educational outcomes. The educational outcomes that a country’s education system can develop are a basic indicator for measuring its strength and level. Thus, cultivating a number of world-class scientific research institutions, research universities, and innovative enterprises, and generating a batch of major original scientific achievements, can forge the technological support for a strong education country, making important contributions to promoting scientific and technological innovation and enhancing the country’s capacity for scientific and technological innovation.

(7) The Law of Openness in Building a Strong Education Country

Education is an important force driving the progress of human civilization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “In the current era, the destinies of people of all countries are more closely linked together. Young people of all countries should, through education, cultivate a global vision and enhance a sense of cooperation, jointly creating a bright future for human society.” Therefore, strengthening educational exchange and cooperation is both a requirement of the law of cooperative openness and a requirement of the law of civilizational openness. First, the law of cooperative openness in building a strong education country. Through educational exchange activities, not only can people of all countries deepen mutual understanding and enhance friendship, but countries can also learn from each other, reach high-level comprehensive strategic cooperative partnerships, and write a new chapter of friendly cooperation. Second, the law of civilizational openness in building a strong education country. Civilizations do not evolve in isolation, and education is an important means of promoting cultural dissemination and people-to-people exchange. Foreign youth, through studying and exchanging in China, come to understand Chinese civilization, while also bringing distinctive features of their own civilizations to China. In this way, young people of all countries can better cultivate a global vision, strengthen their awareness of civilizational autonomy, and promote broader and deeper cultural exchanges, thereby jointly creating a bright future for civilizational development.

III. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Original Contributions in Revealing the Laws of Building a Strong Education Country

The manifestation of the laws of building a strong education country requires a process; from initial to full manifestation, certain objective conditions are needed as support. Therefore, revealing the laws of building a strong education country is not a one-time task but requires following the changes of the times, using scientific theoretical thinking and dialectical analytical methods to understand and summarize these laws comprehensively. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new revelations of the laws of building a strong education country are precisely a rational analysis of new educational phenomena, a profound understanding of new educational relationships, and a deep dissection of new educational environments at a new stage of modernization development, representing major original contributions. This original content not only forms a relatively comprehensive theoretical system but is also derived from addressing and solving the problems of building a strong education country with a scientific methodology, possessing strong practical guiding significance for advancing educational modernization.

(1) New Revelations of the Internal Connections of the Laws of Building a Strong Education Country

The laws of building a strong education country have complex internal connections. How to present them layer by layer from the manifestations of the evolution of things requires continuous new summarization. Centered on the three basic threads of “what,” “why,” and “how,” General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on building a strong education country further reveal the essential, stable, and inevitable connections contained within. First, new revelations along the thread of what kind of strong education country to build, proposing that the strong education country to be built is one with “six major characteristics.” [3]3 The “six major characteristics” (六大特质) refer to the six qualities Xi Jinping outlined for a strong education country: strong ideological and political guiding force, talent competitiveness, scientific and technological support, livelihood security, social synergy, and international influence. Laws are the internal connections that determine the inevitable trend of a thing’s development; the development of building a strong education country is also determined by its inherent laws. General Secretary Xi Jinping revealed the inevitable trend of building a strong education country, pointing out: “The strong education country we aim to build is a socialist strong education country with Chinese characteristics, which should possess strong ideological and political guiding force, talent competitiveness, scientific and technological support, livelihood security, social synergy, and international influence.” This clarifies the basic direction of China’s educational modernization. Second, new revelations along the thread of why to build a strong education country, emphasizing grasping the “three major attributes” of education. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s revelation of the political, people-centered, and strategic attributes of education fully explains the importance of building a strong education country. This is an understanding, from the unity of historical depth and the height of the times, of the decisive significance of education for the comprehensive development of individuals and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Among them, political nature is the directional guide for building a strong education country, requiring adherence to the Party’s leadership, adherence to the socialist direction of running schools, and adherence to the path of socialist educational development with Chinese characteristics; people-centered nature is the value orientation of building a strong education country, requiring adherence to running education that satisfies the people; strategic nature is the grand layout of building a strong education country, requiring adherence to a systematic approach to continuously promote comprehensive educational reform. Third, new revelations along the thread of how to build a strong education country, proposing the “five major relationships” that need attention in building a strong education country. [4]4 The “five major relationships” (五个重大关系) refer to five key pairs of relationships in educational reform and development that Xi Jinping emphasized, such as the relationship between fair and quality education, though the specific content is not detailed in this text. The “five major relationships” scientifically answer how to handle the five most basic and important relationships in the process of educational reform and development, forming the methodological foundation for building a strong education country. The “five major relationships” provide focal points for implementing the practical requirements of building a strong education country and are the ideological weapon for accelerating the construction of a strong education country now and in the future.

(2) New Understanding of the Contemporary Manifestations of the Laws of Building a Strong Education Country

Law is the internal cause of things continuously developing and displaying new features, and the new situation in educational work is precisely the new form of action manifested by the laws governing the building of a strong educational country under new historical conditions. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “in the New Era, educational work has achieved historic accomplishments and undergone structural changes, and solid steps have been taken in building a strong educational country.” [5]5 The “New Era” refers to the period since the 19th National Congress of the CPC in 2017, marking a new historical juncture for socialism with Chinese characteristics. This summarizes the new development and new achievements of the socialist educational work with Chinese characteristics, that is, a new understanding of the contemporary manifestations of the laws governing the building of a strong educational country. First, under the comprehensive effect of the laws governing the building of a strong educational country, China has built the world’s largest and quality-assured education system. In 2023, China had a total of 498,300 schools of all types and at all levels, with 291 million students in academic education and 18.9178 million full-time teachers. In preschool education, the gross enrollment rate had reached 91.1% by the end of 2023; in basic education, all 2,895 county-level administrative regions across the country had fully achieved basic balanced compulsory education; in higher education, the enrollment rate had reached 60.2% in 2023. Second, under the long-term effect of the laws governing the building of a strong educational country, the educational ecosystem has undergone major changes. The “double reduction” policy [6]6 The “double reduction” policy, introduced in 2021, aims to reduce the burden of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring on students in compulsory education. is a basic policy formulated after we gained a profound understanding of the laws of educational development, which has promoted the basic formation of an examination and enrollment model in China featuring classified examinations, comprehensive evaluation, and diversified admission, and has facilitated personal growth, talent cultivation, and national progress. Third, under the systematic effect of the laws governing the building of a strong educational country, China will become a world-class educational center with strong influence. By effectively “bringing in” and “going global,” China has signed mutual recognition agreements for academic degrees with 59 countries and regions, and the National Smart Education Platform has provided services to over 10 million overseas users in more than 200 countries, deepening the opening up of education. It should be said that the laws governing the building of a strong educational country will both manifest themselves in new educational phenomena and act upon educational activities to continuously change educational phenomena. Therefore, maintaining a developmental perspective and a contemporary vision is an inevitable requirement for further grasping the forms of manifestation of these laws.

(III) New Elaboration on the Modes of Realization of the Laws Governing the Building of a Strong Educational Country

Regarding how to better understand and apply the laws, and to better achieve the basic goal of building a strong educational country while riding the tide of history, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made important arrangements, issuing the call to “steadfastly march toward the strategic goal of building a strong educational country,” and clarifying the blueprint for the next steps. First, grasp and apply the law of the subject, cultivate and build a high-quality teaching force for the New Era, and cultivate socialist builders and successors who are well-developed morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and labor-wise. This requires implementing the action to forge a strong teaching force with the spirit of educators, [7]7 The “spirit of educators” refers to the professional ethos and moral ideals promoted for teachers, including dedication, love for students, and pursuit of excellence. creating high-quality platforms for young students to develop their talents, and fully unleashing the dynamic role of the dual subjects—teachers and students. Second, grasp and apply the law of method, and handle a series of major relationships in building a strong educational country. This requires using good methods and knowing how to use methods when dealing with complex and thorny educational reform problems, so that educational work achieves the desired reform effects. Third, grasp and apply the law of synergy, and coordinate and advance the integrated reform of the systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent. This requires taking national strategic needs as the guide, advancing in an integrated manner educational development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation, and “emphasizing deepening comprehensive educational reform, deepening the reform of the science and technology system, and deepening the reform of the systems and mechanisms for talent development, to enhance the overall effectiveness of the national innovation system.” Fourth, grasp and apply the law of process, and promote multi-dimensional and multi-level high-quality development of public educational services. This requires always adhering to a people-centered approach, regarding education as a major plan for the country and the Party, and ensuring that the fruits of educational reform and development benefit all the people more and more fairly. Fifth, grasp and apply the law of distinctiveness in building a strong educational country, and solidly implement the project of fostering virtue and nurturing people for the New Era. [8]8 “Fostering virtue and nurturing people” (立德树人) is a core educational principle in China, emphasizing moral education as the foundation of talent cultivation. This requires unremittingly using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to forge souls and educate people, and continuously strengthening and improving ideological and political education in schools in the New Era. Sixth, grasp and apply the law of innovation in building a strong educational country, and accelerate the construction of a high-quality education system. This requires promptly applying scientific and technological achievements to education at all levels, of all types, and in all forms, so as to give play to the basic function of education in meeting the needs of economic and social development and transformation. Seventh, grasp and apply the law of openness in building a strong educational country, and deeply promote high-level opening up of education to the outside world. This requires expanding international academic exchanges and cooperation in educational research, actively participating in global educational governance, and contributing more Chinese strength to the development of global education.

IV. Conclusion

In order to thoroughly implement the strategic deployment of the 20th National Congress of the CPC on accelerating the building of a strong educational country, in January 2025, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the “Outline of the Plan for Building a Strong Educational Country (2024–2035),” which clearly states that the goal is to achieve important phased results in building a strong educational country by 2027. Only by thoroughly implementing this strategic deployment on the basis of following the laws governing the building of a strong educational country can we take the initiative while respecting the laws and achieve success while making good use of the laws. The laws governing the building of a strong educational country are dynamically and gradually revealed with the development of the conditions of the times and educational work. Therefore, using scientific thinking methods to analyze new educational phenomena and summarize new educational laws is a developmental theoretical task. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on education are the latest achievements of the socialist educational theory with Chinese characteristics. Under new historical conditions, they have revealed the laws governing the building of a strong educational country, and have made a comprehensive, systematic, and in-depth elaboration of these laws, representing major original contributions. This helps to provide ideological guidance for advancing educational modernization and building a strong educational country, helps to clarify work ideas for the vast number of educators, and thus enables the completion of various goals and tasks of educational development through proactive action and solid work.

(Author Biographies: Han Sheng, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor, School of Marxism, Shandong University; Wang Pengpeng, Doctoral Candidate, School of Marxism, Shandong University.)

(This article is a phased result of the major special project of the Sichuan Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Fund, “Research on Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought from the Perspective of Historical Materialism” (Project No.: SCJJ24ZD04).)

Online Editor: Tongxin