An analysis of the texts on the modernisation of education in Xi Jinping's China

Abstract

This paper focuses on two texts issued in February 2019 by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council, through which the current leadership of the People’s Republic of China defines the principles and objectives of a project for “education modernization”, designed to be completed by 2035. Specifically, this contribution provides a textual analysis of the Chinese texts, identifying the relevant frequent terms and wordings, which encapsulate some of the main features of the contemporary educational policy. Throughout the analysis, specific attention is also devoted to elements that concern the relationship between education, politics, and official ideology, especially with regards to the function of political and ideological education in school curricula and the role that the Party-State attributes to education within the broader framework of its political objectives.