Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, speaks at a national conference on textbook work in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Tuesday called for accelerating the development of a high-quality textbook system with Chinese characteristics, as schools across the country started a new academic semester.
Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at a national conference on textbook work held in Beijing.
He emphasized the need to fully understand the political, people-centered and strategic nature of education, and to strengthen and improve textbook development with a strong sense of political responsibility and historical mission.
Efforts should be made to speed up the establishment of a high-quality textbook system with Chinese characteristics to provide strong support for building China into a leading country in education, Ding said.
He highlighted the correct political direction and value orientation concerning textbooks and called for efforts to ensure that the Party's educational policies are implemented throughout all aspects of textbook development.
Efforts should focus on fostering virtue through education and further incorporating the Party's innovative theories into courses and teaching materials.
China should better adapt its textbook development to the requirements of the times and accelerate efforts to establish a Chinese intellectual system and an original textbook system in philosophy and social sciences, he noted.
He also stressed stricter management of the compilation, review, publication and distribution of textbooks, as well as standardized procedures for their selection and use.
The conference came as a new school year got underway across China. Primary and secondary schools and universities in many parts of the country welcomed students back to campuses in early September following the summer vacation.
In 2025, China had 440,700 schools at all levels and of all types, with over 280.4 million students enrolled in education programs of various types, underscoring the scale of the country's textbook development and management endeavors.
Ding's remarks also came amid a years-long national push to strengthen textbook work. The State Council established a national textbook committee in 2017, and all 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland subsequently set up provincial-level leading bodies for textbook work.
Strengthening the creation and management of teaching materials was included in the report to the 20th CPC National Congress in 2022.
The push was further highlighted in China's long-term education planning in 2026, when the State Council issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for education development. The plan called for implementing the state's responsibility for textbook development and comprehensively advancing the development of a high-quality textbook system with Chinese characteristics. ■
