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The Landscape of Early Childhood Development in Rural China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Sarah-Eve Dill ,
Yue Ma ,
Andrew Sun  and
Scott Rozelle
Scott Rozelle
Affiliation:
Rural Education Action Project, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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In China, low levels of early childhood development (ECD) in rural areas may inhibit economic development as the nation attempts to transition from a middle-income manufacturing-based economy to a high-income innovation economy. This paper surveys the recent literature on ECD among children ages 0-3 years in rural China, including rates of developmental delays, causes of delays, and implications for the future of China's economy. Recent studies have found high rates of developmental delays among young children in rural China and point to poor nutrition and psychosocial stimulation as the primary causes. This review highlights the need for large-scale ECD interventions in rural China to raise human capital and support future economic growth.

Keywords

early childhood developmentcognitionnutritionparentingrural China
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 17 , Issue 16 , August 2019 , e3
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2019

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