This study examines the theoretical ideology, characteristics, and history of the educational system in Mainland China. An overall evaluation of educational development and an estimation of its contribution to the economy of Mainland China are provided as well.
While education has grown rapidly in Mainland China since 1949, structural imbalance in the labor supply is still an important concern. On the one hand, many unskilled laborers are either unemployed or underemployed and, on the other hand, the demand for professional manpower far exceeds the available supply. Some recent reports in the press indicate that the Mainland Chinese government has worked hard to redress this problem in recent years. But, in the near future, it will remain one of the most important barriers to nationwide progress.
Educational expenditures when considered as a form of capital contribute to national income and to its growth. In this study educational investment’s contribution to national income is measured by both the residual factor approach and the return rate approach. Both approaches yield the similar result that educational investment in Mainland China is considerably smaller than in other countries at roughly the same level of development. These results are possibly biased by the unreliability of the available statistical data. However, other factors that would tend to corroborate the findings are also discussed.
