Governing by Numbers: Understanding China's Exam-Centric Education System

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In China's exam-centric education system, high scores become the most influential determinant of a student’s educational pathway and future career opportunities. These scores can confer access to elite universities, rewarding jobs, and other benefits such as housing, healthcare, and quality education for children. A new book, The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China, unpacks this system and shows how it serves as a centralized instrument of governance, defining opportunity and legitimacy in China.  

Join the Trustee Chair for this online event as we discuss China’s exam-centric education system and its effect on Chinese society. We will begin with remarks from two of the book’s co-authors, Ruixue Jia (UC San Diego) and Hongbin Li (Stanford University). CSIS’s Scott Kennedy will then moderate a discussion with three additional experts who will offer their feedback on the book and broader issues it raises: Ethan Michelson (Professor of Sociology and Law at Indiana University Bloomington), Yu Zhou (Professor of Geography, Vassar College), and Elizabeth Knup (Honorary Senior Fellow, Center for China Analysis, Asia Society Policy Institute). 

This event is made possible by generous support to CSIS.