Chinese e-platform pushing AI education globally

The country's Smart Education of China platform has become the world's largest high-quality educational resource center, with total visits exceeding 72.6 billion, the Ministry of Education said recently.

Yang Fei, deputy director of the ministry's General Office, said the platform hosts more than 130,000 high-quality resources for primary and secondary education, over 12,500 vocational education courses, and about 145,000 higher education courses.

Covering the entire educational process from preschool to postgraduate studies and encompassing moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labor education, the platform now serves more than 178 million users in over 200 countries and regions. Daily visits average about 52 million, Yang said at a recent news conference held by the ministry.

Zhou Dawang, director of the ministry's Department of Science, Technology and Informatization, said the platform is playing a growing role in advancing artificial intelligence education. It offers more than 1,000 high-quality AI courses across basic, vocational, higher and lifelong education.

Online AI training has been provided to about 500,000 teachers and students from 2,000 universities, and 1.31 million undergraduate graduates have participated in comprehensive AI application training, Zhou said.

Many universities are incorporating AI into general education curricula. Fudan University, for instance, has introduced AI courses for all undergraduate and postgraduate students, integrated AI into every first-level discipline and made AI literacy a requirement across all majors, Zhou said.

Xia Qunke, vice-president of Zhejiang University, said the university established China's first interdisciplinary AI program in 2019, building a full-cycle "AI+" talent training system.

Initiatives include 11 integrated undergraduate-doctoral programs in areas such as smart ocean studies, new majors in intelligent manufacturing and robotics, and the publication of 27 "AI+X" textbooks. Fifteen of its courses are available on the national higher education smart platform, Xia said.

Yang Zongkai, director of the expert advisory committee on educational digitalization under the Ministry of Education, said digital education is developing rapidly worldwide, with countries including the United States and members of the European Union placing AI education at the center of national strategies and increasing investment.

According to a global digital education development index report, China's overall ranking rose from 24th in 2023 and ninth in 2024 to sixth in 2025, placing it among the world's leading countries in digital education development, Yang said.

Looking ahead, education must undergo systematic transformation driven by AI, with a focus on integrating AI throughout the educational process, launching pilot programs and building future-oriented teaching and learning ecosystems, he said.

"With comprehensive digital empowerment, Chinese education will become fairer, higher in quality, more dynamic and more sustainable," Yang said.