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China
Overview of the education system (EAG 2022)
  • Upper secondary attainment is often seen as a minimum qualification for successful labour market participation. In China, 37% of 25-64 year-olds had achieved at least an upper secondary qualification in 2020, compared to 83% on average across OECD countries. Of these, about half had achieved upper secondary education as their highest education attainment, while the remainder had completed a tertiary programme.
  • Among 25-64 year-olds in China, short-cycle tertiary qualifications are the most common tertiary attainment at 10% of the population followed by bachelor's degrees at 8% and master's and doctoral degrees combined with 1%. This is different from the OECD average, where bachelor’s degrees are most common (19%), followed by master’s degrees (14%) and short cycle tertiary qualifications (7%).
  • In China, the large majority of tertiary students (85%) are enrolled in public educational institutions (OECD average: 71%), while only a small portion are enrolled in private institutions (15%). The share of tertiary students enrolled in private institutions remained constant between 2013 and 2020 (Figure 1).
  • Enrolment rates are lower among the population aged 25 and above. In China, 1% of the 25- 29 year-olds and less than 1% of 30-64 year-olds were enrolled in tertiary education in 2020.
  • Given the large size of the tertiary education system in China, foreign students represent less than 1% of all tertiary students (of these, 30% comes from neighbouring countries). However, foreign students in China represent 4% of all international and foreign students in OECD and other participant countries.
    • | Education at a Glance 2022 | Country Note | Annexes from Education at a Glance 2022 | OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018 | Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China | National Bureau of Statistics of China |
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    The following list displays indicators for which your selected country shows the highest and lowest values among countries. The list can be sorted by level of education or by age group. All rankings are calculated including available data from OECD and partner countries. Find out more about the methodology here.

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    Attainment

    The level of below upper secondary attainment among 25-64 year-olds is one of the highest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (63.4 %, rank 2/43 , 2021) Download Indicator

    The level of upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary attainment among 25-64 year-olds is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (18.1 %, rank 41/43 , 2021) Download Indicator

    The level of tertiary attainment among 25-64 year-olds is one of the lowest among OECD and partner countries with available data. (18.5 %, rank 41/44 , 2021) Download Indicator

    China has one of the lowest percentages of 25-64 year-olds whose highest education level is a master's or equivalent tertiary education degree. (1.1 %, rank 38/40 , 2021) Download Indicator

    Graduation by gender

    The share of female graduates from upper secondary general programmes is one of the smallest among OECD countries and partner economies with available data. (46.9 %, rank 39/40 , 2020) Download Indicator

    Among OECD and partner countries with available data, China has one of the smallest shares of women graduates from tertiary programmes. (53.1 %, rank 31/35 , 2020) Download Indicator

    Student mobility

    China has one of the smallest proportion of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among OECD and partner countries with available data. (0.4 %, rank 40/44 , 2020) Download Indicator

    In China, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among men is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.5 %, rank 39/43 , 2020) Download Indicator

    In China, the share of international or foreign students enrolled in tertiary education among women is relatively low compared to other OECD and partner countries. (0.4 %, rank 39/43 , 2020) Download Indicator

    Expenditure in education and national wealth

    From 2012 to 2018, the average annual growth in the number of full-time equivalent student in tertiary education is one of the largest in China. (5.4 %, rank 3/40 , 2019) Download Indicator

    Public and private expenditure in education

    Compared to 2015, the share of total government expenditure is comparatively high in China. (139 Index, rank 2/42 , 2019) Download Indicator


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    General findings
    
                        
    
                            
    
                                
    • Tertiary attainment has increased strongly in most OECD countries among 25-34 year olds. The average share of younger adults with a tertiary degree has increased from 27% in 2000 to 48% in 2021.
    • Higher educational attainment leads to better labour-market outcomes including higher wages and higher employment rates.
    • Expenditure on tertiary education accounts for 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on average across OECD countries or 30% of all education funding allocated to educational institutions.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Access and Participation - Tertiary | Education policies: Finance and Funding - Tertiary | Education policies: Labour market outcomes - Tertiary | 
    
                            
    
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    • Tertiary attainment has increased strongly in most OECD countries among 25-34 year-olds. The average share of younger adults with a tertiary degree has increased from 27% in 2000 to 48% in 2021. In this age group, the share of individuals with tertiary attainment is 7 percentage points higher than the share of individuals with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment on average across OECD countries. If current trends continue, a tertiary education will be the most common attainment among working-age adults on average across OECD countries within a few years.
    • Higher educational attainment leads to better labour-market outcomes. In 2021, on average, employment rates for tertiary-educated young adults (25-34 year-olds) are 8 percentage points higher than those who have attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education and 26 percentage points higher than those who have attained below upper secondary education across OECD countries. 
    • Greater educational attainment yields better earnings and this holds true for higher levels of tertiary attainment in most countries. On average across the OECD, full-time full-year workers who attained short-cycle tertiary education earned 20% more than those with upper secondary attainment in 2020. This earnings advantage increases to 44% among those who attained a bachelor's or equivalent qualification and to 88% among those with a master's or doctoral or equivalent degree.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Attainment | Education policies: Labour market outcomes | 
    
                            
    
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    • On average, the vast majority (88%) of children between the age of 3 and 5 are enrolled in early childhood education (ECE) across the OECD. In a few countries, it is also common for younger children between the age of 0 and 2 to participate in ECE and over 50% of children in this age group are enrolled. However, only 27% of under-threes are enrolled in ECE on average across the OECD.
    • In almost all countries with available data, the majority of upper secondary graduates from general programmes are women. Men dominate graduation from vocational programmes in almost three-quarters of the countries.
    • While the average age of first-time graduates from general upper secondary education does not differ much across countries, the difference widens in vocational education, ranging from 16 to 34 years.
    • Around one-fifth of tertiary students are enrolled on a part-time basis, but large differences exist across OECD countries. Studying part-time is especially common in many Nordic countries, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, where more than 30% of students study part-time. However, in some countries like the Czech Republic, and Greece, less than 5% of students study part-time.
    • Students are more likely to cross borders to pursue their studies as they reach more advanced levels of education. Internationally mobile students account for only 7% of bachelor's students, but 17% of master's students and 26% of doctoral students on average in OECD countries.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Access and Participation  | 
    
                            
    
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    • Total public spending on education (from primary to tertiary level) averages 10.6% of total government expenditure across OECD countries, from around 7% to 17%. The largest share of government funding is devoted to primary and secondary levels, explained by near-universal enrolment rates at those levels of education and the greater contribution of private sources at tertiary level.
    • On average across OECD countries, expenditure on primary education amounts to 30% of the funding for educational institutions, while secondary education accounts for 39%.
    • In 2019, OECD countries spent an average of USD 17 559 per student per year at the tertiary level. However, this average is driven up by high values in a few countries, reaching over USD 25 000 in Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
    • On average across OECD countries, 63% of total expenditure on tertiary educational institutions goes to core services (e.g. teachers' salaries, school buildings, teaching materials and administration), 33% on research and development activities, and 4% on ancillary services (e.g. meals and transport).
    • Expenditure on tertiary education accounts for 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on average across OECD countries or 30% of all education funding allocated to educational institutions.
    • On average across OECD countries, public funds account for 83% of total spending on educational institutions. Private sources are more important at the tertiary level, where they make up 31% of all expenditure compared to just 10% at the non-tertiary levels (primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary).
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Finance and Funding | 
    
                            
    
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    • Teachers' actual salaries at pre-primary, primary and general secondary level are 4-14% lower than the earnings of tertiary-educated workers on average across OECD countries and other participants. School heads' actual salaries are substantially higher than those of teachers across primary and secondary education.
    • Teachers in public schools in OECD and partner countries are required to teach on average 987 hours per year at pre-primary level, 784 hours at primary level, 711 hours at lower secondary level (general programmes) and 684 hours at upper secondary level (general and vocational programmes).
    • Typically, the duration of initial teacher education programmes varies from 3 years to 6.5 years, for prospective lower secondary teachers of general subjects. A tertiary qualification is awarded upon completion of the programme in most countries, regardless of the level of education at which the teacher will teach.
    • Continuing professional development is compulsory to some extent for teachers of general subjects at least at one level of education in most countries with data, except Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand. It can be either generally compulsory for all teachers as a regular part of their work, or for some teachers for specific purposes such as promotion or salary increases, or in some cases, both.
    
                            
    
                            
    
                                | Education policies: Teachers | OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)  | 
    
                            
    
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            Diagram of funding flows - China
            
    
            
    
        
    


        
		
    
            
    
			Click on the coverpage to see the full OECD iLibrary version
			
    
				Key
            
    
            Country Reviews for China
            
    
            
    
			
    
        
    
		
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
        
    
            Note: These values should be interpreted with care since they are influenced
            by countries' specific contexts and trade-offs. In education, there is often no simple
            most- or least-efficient model. For instance, the share of private expenditure in
            education must be read against other measures designed to mitigate inequities, 
			such as loans and grants; longer learning time is an opportunity to convey
            more and better content to students, but may hinder investments in other important
            areas. If you want further information on the nature of different variables, please
            take the time to read the analysis and contextual information, available at the website
            for each publication.
    
            All rankings for individual variables are compiled on the basis of OECD and G20 countries for which data are available. 
            The OECD average includes only OECD countries which are listed here: http://www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/
            

    
	    *TALIS averages are based on all countries participating in the TALIS survey, including partner countries and economies. 
		This explains the difference between the OECD average and the TALIS averages.
		Data from the TALIS survey and Education at a Glance (EAG) may differ. See Annex E of the TALIS technical report and 
		Annex 3 
		of EAG 2021 for more details about the data collections.
            

    
			B-S-J-Z (China) refers to the four PISA-participating provinces/municipalities of the People's Republic of China:
Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
			

    
            For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.