Stanford University

China's Test-based Education System is a Mirror of Society

China's Test-based Education System is a Mirror of Society

Hongbin Li and Ruixue Jia joined Yiqing Xu for a fireside chat on their newly published book, "The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China." Watch the recording and see event highlights.
Yiqing Xu and Hongbin Li sit on a stage during a SCCEI event.
A full audience seated in front of a screen with a virtual speaker on it and presentation loaded.
Carsten Holz asks a question from the audience of an event.
A student asks a question from the audience of an event.
Hongbin Li speaks at the podium.
The Highest Exam books are lined up and displayed on a table.

The Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions (SCCEI) hosted a fireside chat featuring authors Hongbin Li and Ruixue Jia, moderated by Yiqing Xu, to discuss their newly published book The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China.

The discussion explored China's gaokao—the nationwide college entrance exam taken annually by over ten million students—which uniquely determines college admission entirely through test performance and a regional quota system. The authors presented research drawing from extensive surveys, historical analysis, economic data, and personal narrative to reveal how this centralized testing system functions as a centralize, hierarchical tournament serving the Chinese Communist Party's needs while driving economic growth. The conversation also addressed the gaokao's broader societal impacts, including how Chinese-American families' expectations shaped by this test-based system increasingly conflict with the holistic admissions approaches used by U.S. educational institutions.
 


Watch the Recorded Event

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