Xi Jinping Issues Instructions on Basic Education

President Xi Jinping has issued important instructions on basic education, calling for high-quality development in the sector as the foundation of national progress, while Chinese state media simultaneously spotlighted grassroots governance models and honored frontline Party workers in a coordinated messaging push.

According to Xinhua News, Xi emphasized the need to fully implement the Party’s education policy and carry out the fundamental task of “fostering virtue and nurturing people” (立德树人). The instructions were delivered ahead of the National Basic Education Work Conference held in Beijing on July 22, which was attended by Politburo Standing Committee member and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang.

Education as a Strategic Priority

Xi stressed that basic education must cultivate socialist builders and successors who are well-developed morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and labor-wise. He called for following the laws of education, implementing a “health first” education concept, and promoting the physical and mental health of students.

“On the new journey, we must be guided by the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the Party’s education policy, carry out the fundamental task of fostering virtue and nurturing people,” Xi said in his instructions.

The conference saw participation from senior leaders including Shi Taifeng, Li Shulei, Wang Xiaohong, and Wu Zhenglong, with representatives from the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and several provincial governments delivering exchange speeches. Key themes included education equity, teacher team building, resource allocation, and coordinated education involving schools, families, and society.

The Yiwu Model: A Blueprint for County-Level Development

In a separate but thematically linked development, Xinhua published a comprehensive feature on July 22 examining the “Yiwu Development Experience” — a model that Xi has instructed to be further summarized and applied nationwide.

As detailed in the Xinhua feature, Yiwu, a small inland city in Zhejiang Province, transformed over four decades from a “roadside market” to the “world’s supermarket.” Xi visited Yiwu 11 times during his tenure as Zhejiang Party Secretary from 2002 to 2007 and has continued to champion its development approach.

The city now boasts 8 million square meters of market space, over 80,000 shops, and more than 2.1 million types of goods. Its economic transformation has been remarkable: GDP grew from 30.48 billion yuan in 2005 to 269.33 billion yuan in 2025, while export volume surged from 8.99 billion yuan to 730.69 billion yuan over the same period. Urban per capita disposable income reached 101,816 yuan in 2025, ranking first among China’s counties for 19 consecutive years.

The Yiwu experience rests on four pillars: respecting grassroots initiative and creativity, respecting market economy laws, maintaining an effective government role, and pursuing reform, innovation, and hard work. The model emphasizes the balance between market forces and government guidance — what Xi has described as coordinating the “visible hand” and the “invisible hand.”

Grassroots Heroes Take the Stage

On the same day, the State Council Information Office hosted a press conference titled “Strivers on the New Journey,” where one “July 1 Medal” recipient and four national “Two Excellence One First” representatives shared their experiences with Chinese and foreign journalists.

As reported by People’s Daily, the participants included Ma Shanxiang, a retired grassroots mediator from Chongqing who has handled over 2,500 disputes in 38 years; Zhao Naixiang, a community Party secretary in Ningxia managing a multi-ethnic neighborhood; Liang Yan, a special education teacher from Henan who champions the motto “Not one less, everyone must shine”; Zhong Baijun, a village Party secretary who led his village to an industrial output of 2.5 billion yuan; and Wang Kehao, who built a Party branch of delivery riders in Chengdu into a 700-member volunteer service team.

Ma Shanxiang, who received the prestigious July 1 Medal, told the gathering: “Working at the grassroots level for 38 years, I have witnessed the people’s happy life climbing step by step, from quantitative change to qualitative change. In this process, I have personally felt the people’s feelings for the Party growing deeper and deeper.”

Coordinated Messaging and Strategic Significance

The simultaneous release of these three stories reflects a coordinated communications strategy from Chinese state media, reinforcing key themes of the Xi administration: the centrality of education to national rejuvenation, the importance of grassroots innovation and economic development models, and the celebration of Party-building at the community level.

Coming shortly after the 105th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding on July 1, the press conference featuring Medal recipients directly connects to that milestone, while the education conference and Yiwu feature represent ongoing policy priorities for the leadership.

What to Watch For

Observers will be watching for specific policy measures to emerge from the National Basic Education Work Conference, particularly regarding education equity and the allocation of resources between urban and rural areas. The promotion of the Yiwu model also raises questions about how its lessons — rooted in a unique local context — can be adapted and applied across China’s diverse regions.

As Xi has emphasized, the key lies in “respecting grassroots creativity” and allowing bottom-up innovation to flourish within a framework of strategic government guidance — a formula that has proven transformative for Yiwu and may now shape policy approaches nationwide.