China is located in East Asia and borders the western part of the Pacific Ocean. It has a land area of more than 9.6 million square kilometers, and a mainland coastline of more than 18,000 kilometers. Its water area, including inland sea and marginal sea, is over 4.7 million square kilometers, in which there are more than 7,600 islands of every size. Among them, the island of Taiwan is the largest, with an area of 35,798 square kilometers. China borders 14 countries and is adjacent to 8 island countries on the sea. By provincial administrative division, China has 4 municipalities, 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 2 special administrative regions. Its capital is Beijing. There are 56 ethnic groups in China, which is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-dialect and multi-text country. The common language is Mandarin and standard Chinese characters.

As an ancient civilization with a history of 5,000 years, China has always been attaching great importance to its education. Confucianism and the imperial examination system have a great impact on China’s education. The current strategy of rejuvenating China through science and education puts science, technology and education as China’s priorities. International exchanges and cooperation promote China’s education to a deeper and further level. Not only does it play an important role in inheriting and developing the traditional Chinese culture, but also makes tremendous contributions to the development of world civilization.

At present, China's education system mainly includes pre-school education, compulsory education, special education, high school education, higher education, adult training, literacy education and private education.

Pre-school education refers to the education in kindergartens for 3 to 5-year-old children

Compulsory education is also referred to as free education, including primary and middle school education, lasting nine years generally, six years in primary school and three in middle school (“6+3 system”), yet with exceptions.

China has basically formed its own special education development pattern, with special education schools as the backbone, regular classes or special classes in ordinary schools as the main form, and sending teachers to families, homeschooling and community education as a supplement.

China’s high school education, including regular high schools, regular technical secondary schools, adult secondary technical schools,vocational high schools and technical schools, is an important part of the national education system.

China’s higher education includes academic education and non-academic education, in full-time or part-time pattern. It can also be divided into junior college, undergraduate and postgraduate education.

Adult training and literacy education: Adult education is different from ordinary full-time education. Its main purpose is to upgrade the skills and improve the qualifications of the working staff. Literacy education refers to the process of teaching the illiterate or the semi-illiterate to grasp basic skills of reading, writing and reckoning.

China’s private education, also known as non-public education, is a form of education in contrast to public education or state-run education. It refers to the schools and other educational institutions run by non-state social organizations or individuals using non-fiscal funds for the purpose of benefiting the society.