In addition, quite a significant number of rural children are left
behind by their parents who migrate from their home villages to work
in the big cities. Due to a lack of toys and children’s books, their cog-
nitive development is then impeded. Some children lack sufficient
nutrition, especially during the complementary feeding period after
weaning. This also results in a high anaemia rate.
CR: How will demography affect China’s future?
CJH: Both the quality and quantity of the population are key ele-
ments. However, comparatively speaking, population quality matters
more for the future. We should be aware of this considering the fact
that even iPhone production lines have moved back to the US.
As China’s labour costs are increasing significantly, scientific inno-
vation and poverty alleviation will require the talent and ability of
Chinese people. Thus we have to enhance our population quality.
The common recognition internationally is that the improvement
in population quality depends on the starting point of infants. A lot
of research data also indicates that between one and three years old is
a key period for fostering sound development. The infants of today
will be a major part of the labour force in two decades, and so we need
to make changes today.
CR: What’s the impact of rural children’s underdevelopment upon
overall national strength?
CJH: Today in urban areas, most of the labourers on the produc-
tion line are from the countryside and this phenomenon will remain
constant for a considerable time. Therefore, improving the quality of
rural children will have a significant impact on our country’s com-
prehensive national strength. Although we have focused our energy
on poverty alleviation and reduction, the key issue is to help the rural
population to enhance their skills.
Public Affairs
CR: According to Luo Renfu, programme manager of REAP, and
an associate professor at the Modern Agriculture Institute of Peking
University, the country’s financial investment in education amounted
to 3,886 billion yuan (US$583 billion) in 2016, accounting for 4.2
percent of the country’s overall GDP. However, this amount does not
include a single penny for infant nutrition and scientific nurturing.
What’s your view on this?
CJH: In my opinion, this part should be included in the funding
for government public affairs. Over the past few years, free vaccina-
tions and physical examinations for infants and children have been
listed as part of the basic public welfare system. In some poor regions,
governments have also started to conduct supplementary nutrition
programmes. However, the attention and investment in general in
infant nutrition is far from enough.
In recent years, the National Health and Family Planning Com-
mission of China and the China Development Research Foundation
have both tried actively to promote an improvement of the situation.
CR: What amount of funding do you think is appropriate for early
childhood development right now?
CJH: We have over 50 million infants aged between one and three
years old. With the implementation of the recent policy allowing all
couples to have two children, the number of infants will surely rise.
Over two-thirds of these kids are from the countryside. Early child-
hood nutrition and education needs to be on the agenda. Like the free
vaccination programme, the government can provide opportunities
rather than make it compulsory. By our calculations, if a single nur-
turing centre costs about 60,000 yuan to set up (US$8,847), and we
put one in every village, community, or apartment complex across the
country, it will need a total of over 60 billion yuan (US$8.9 billion)
in investment.
That’s just 0.1 percent of China’s 2016 GDP of 70 trillion yuan.
That’s not a lot. If we can set these up and find the funding to run
them and train personnel, we can really tackle rural infants’ cognitive
underdevelopment.Professionals
CR: REAP has already started setting up intervention projects such
as fostering centres, with positive effects so far. Can we take these
practices nationwide?
CJH: We’ve already seen positive feedback from some interven-
tions. If we don’t intervene in a timely manner, many rural infants will
lose any opportunity for change. That means the government needs
to step in as soon as possible. That’s helpful not just to individual chil-
dren or families but the future of the whole country. Another prob-
lem is that children from poor urban families or migrant families in
the cities often don’t have access to proper early childhood education.
So we can supplement investment with basic public services. People
need the right to participate in these programmes.
CR: REAP spent a year compiling material for Chinese infants
based on foreign examples. How do you evaluate these materials?
CJH: This is a major contribution REAP has made to China, and
one based on studying the needs of Chinese kids extensively. Al-
though there are some existing works and projects targeting infants,
they aren’t the best choice for domestic targets.
CR How professional is early childhood education in China?
CJH: According to the updated 2015 version of China’s Profession
Categorisation Book issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and
Social Security, “guidance for early childhood development” is listed
as a new profession.
To regulate this newly emerged profession, we have invited experts
in this field to set up standards. The professionalisation of this indus-
try requires the setting up of entry barriers to secure the high quality
of the provision of early childhood education services.
With 50 million children under three, China now needs a total of
over 8 million professionals in this field. But there are bright career
prospects, with more and more parents realising the importance of
early childhood education.