Educational technologies in China. Pre- and post-pandemic lessons

China is leading in the application of new digital technologies in education. The market is young, albeit highly competitive, as parents willingly adopt any technological innovation that could help their children, and schools as well, since they are judged on their pupils’ success. To foster such a flourishing, there is a wealth of available data under a loose regulatory framework, growing technical expertise and massive public funding and hands-on support. However, structural barriers for educational technologies do exist, such as the pre-eminence granted to admission exams for students above anything else, or an insufficient critical mass of AI talent and deployment. Aware of these limitations, the Chinese administration promotes changes in local education systems that are later extended nationally if they prove to be successful. What happened to the education field during the Covid-19 confinement in China encompasses a vibrant display of public and private initiatives that led to what every expert called a ʻboom timeʼ for educational technologies. This report presents in detail the educational technologies ecosystem in China and, from there, analyses the learning outcomes of the pandemic days and potential learnings of significance to Europe. Thus, for instance, China’s pursuit of decreasing the education divide between areas lacking infrastructures and urban zones could create economies of scale for affordable and technologically advanced innovations that can be inspirational for Europe.