China's State Council Issues 15th Five-Year Plan for Education Development, Calling for AI Education at All Levels

China's State Council issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for Education Development (Guo Fa [2026] No. 19) on June 22, 2026, and the National Development and Reform Commission published it on September 28, 2026. The plan calls for advancing AI education at all levels, improving students' AI literacy, and strengthening their ability to raise and solve problems. It also proposes sharing Chinese standards and solutions in fields including AI education, and enhancing leadership in digital-intelligence education and STEM education.

As a national special plan, it writes AI education at all levels into student competency requirements and includes AI education among the fields for sharing Chinese standards and solutions abroad, which directly affects curriculum design in schools and universities, teacher training demand, and the compliance and procurement environment for education products. For AI education product providers, all-level coverage means the user base can expand from pilot schools to the broader basic and higher education system; for schools and teachers, supporting teacher training and teaching research are needed. The plan is directional, and specific class hours, textbooks, assessment methods, and funding arrangements are not given in the original text, so implementation depends on follow-up policies. Primary, secondary, and higher education institutions need to plan AI curricula and teacher training under all-level requirements, expanding teacher competency programs. AI education is listed among fields for sharing Chinese standards and solutions abroad, so related curricula and products may enter international cooperation scenarios through education opening-up.