TIANJIN, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- With a simple click of the mouse, a school emblem materialized from a computer screen into a nearby 3D printer. Layer by layer, the machine meticulously transformed lines of code into a solid form, seamlessly converting an abstract digital design into a tangible object that students could now hold in their hands.
"It's like watching an idea take shape as a model, and then become a real object right before your eyes," said sixth-grader Yang Miaotian from New Star Primary School in north China's Tianjin Municipality. For her, the experience was nothing short of eye-opening. "It feels just like playing with building blocks."
Such scenes are increasingly becoming a routine occurrence in classrooms across Tianjin. Starting this fall semester, the city has embarked on a systematic rollout of a compulsory artificial intelligence (AI) curriculum, encompassing nearly all grades in primary and secondary schools. This initiative stands as one of the most comprehensive local endeavors to integrate AI into the basic education system of the world's second-largest economy.
This initiative represents just one facet of a broader nationwide effort. In Beijing alone, over 1,400 primary and secondary schools have integrated AI general education courses, reaching approximately 1.83 million students. Meanwhile, cities such as Hangzhou in the east and Xi'an in the northwest have systematically incorporated AI into their basic education frameworks. In southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, authorities have designated the second Friday of every October as a citywide AI Day for primary and secondary school students.
This educational momentum mirrors the explosive growth of China's AI industry. According to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the country's AI sector surpassed 900 billion yuan (about 128 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, marking a 24 percent year-on-year increase. By the third quarter of this year, the number of AI enterprises in China had exceeded 5,300, accounting for 15 percent of the global total.
As China's homegrown AI technology accelerates toward large-scale real-world applications, the education sector has emerged as one of the most dynamic testing grounds. A report by the Changjiang Securities research institute forecasts that the AI education market will expand to 160 billion yuan by 2027 and approach 180 billion yuan by 2030.
Policy support has been equally robust. In August, the State Council unveiled a policy document advancing the "AI Plus" initiative, outlining a decade-long roadmap that mandates the integration of AI across all educational domains, fosters innovative human-AI collaborative teaching models, and shifts educational focus from rote knowledge transmission to competency-based learning.
FROM POLICY TO CLASSROOMS
In Tianjin, translating national policy directives into classroom implementation has required meticulous calibration.
"The hardest part is finding the right balance," said Gao Shuyin, deputy director of the educational technology and informatization center of Tianjin Academy of Educational Sciences. "Overly advanced content risks becoming an unrealistic college-level curriculum, while oversimplified material reduces it to mere science popularization."
After multiple rounds of curriculum refinement, Tianjin has anchored its AI education framework firmly on the concept of literacy rather than technical specialization. The resulting system emphasizes a progressive learning pathway, from foundational cognitive understanding and practical application to creative design and ethical reflection, while deliberately de-emphasizing pure intensive coding skills.
Under the current arrangement, fourth-grade and eighth-grade students are required to take one compulsory AI class per week as part of the local curriculum. Other grades are encouraged to develop school-based AI courses or integrate AI into existing subjects. At the high school level, students can opt for AI-focused elective modules alongside national courses such as information technology and general technology.
Beijing is adopting a comparable tiered approach, with students receiving a minimum of eight AI classes each academic year. Primary schools emphasize experiential learning to cultivate AI thinking, while junior high schools focus on applying AI in both academic and everyday contexts. In senior high schools, the curriculum prioritizes hands-on projects that foster innovation and creativity.
AI ENTERS DAILY LEARNING
At Tianjin No.7 High School, AI has been woven directly into traditional subjects. In physics classes, students utilize AI programming to simulate the motion of microscopic particles and visualize nuclear fission chain reactions. Biology lessons employ AI models to analyze shifts in population gene frequencies, while mathematics classes leverage AI modeling to explore complex functions.
Beyond academics, AI applications extend to monitoring students' physical fitness and fostering creative expression through AI-powered art competitions.
In Beijing, a similar initiative is underway. At a branch campus of Beijing No. 2 Middle School located in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing's E-town and the city's innovation hub, partnerships with local high-tech firms enable students to engage with cutting-edge technologies such as robotics and simulated autonomous driving systems.
AI education is expanding beyond urban campuses. In a rural primary school in Tianjin's Beichen District, students observed AI-generated animated breakdowns of robot structures before assembling simple robot kits by hand. There, AI becomes something the kids can touch and understand.
"Our goal is to ensure that every child, whether in urban or rural areas, acquires technological literacy," said Long Zusheng, director of the primary and secondary education division of Tianjin Municipal Education Commission.
"It's a systemic effort, testing a region's capacity in curriculum planning, teacher training, resource allocation and pedagogical innovation," Long said, describing the AI's integration into China's classroom as "far more than a simple course adjustment."
To support this initiative, Tianjin has launched a citywide teacher training program designed to equip educators across all disciplines with the necessary skills to effectively teach the AI curriculum. Teachers can then apply these new competencies in their daily instruction. Meanwhile, standardized digital resource packages, including lesson plans, courseware and activity materials, have been made accessible via a smart education platform.
ASSISTANT, NOT REPLACEMENT
For education experts, the primary objective of AI education is not to produce "junior programmers," but rather to cultivate future citizens who are well-informed, innovative and proficient in AI literacy.
Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, stressed that AI should serve to enhance, rather than replace, human-centered education. "While human-AI interaction can be encouraged," he said. "it should not undermine genuine human communication between teachers and students."
Xiong also underscored the critical role of parents, asserting that families need basic AI literacy to help mitigate children's excessive reliance on technology.
His perspective is echoed by Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the China National Academy of Educational Sciences, who stressed the need for a comprehensive and balanced understanding of this double-edged technology.
"AI should function as an assistant, deployed only when both students and teachers actively engage in and interact throughout the learning process," he said.
Such concerns have been addressed in national policy safeguards. In May, China's Ministry of Education (MOE) issued guidelines on AI education for primary and secondary schools, explicitly prohibiting the direct submission of AI-generated content as homework or exam answers and mandating measures to prevent its misuse in creative assignments.
Ethical risks, encompassing privacy protection, algorithmic bias and data security, were also identified as areas requiring vigilant monitoring.
Evaluation remains a work in progress. Authorities acknowledged that frameworks for assessing the learning outcomes of AI education are still under development.
Looking ahead, a white paper on smart education released by MOE earlier this year identified 2025 as the inaugural year of China's smart education initiative, with AI leading to a future-oriented intelligent education system.
China has already established the world's largest digital education platform for basic education, providing over 110,000 high-quality resources across all subjects and grade levels, both inside and outside the classroom.
"Integrating AI into classrooms is akin to planting seeds," Xiong said. "It strengthens the foundation for new quality productive forces and shapes the innovation ecosystem of the future." ■
