Abstract After more than 70 years of development, China has built the world’s largest modern vocational education system. This system has undergone gradual evolution through several stages: initial establishment and transformation, comprehensive restoration, exploratory development, framework formation, and deepened reform. The experience of constructing China’s modern vocational education system can be summarized as follows: in terms of its driving mechanism, it reflects the deep coupling of industry-demand traction and government top-level design; in terms of spatial structure, it takes school-based education as the main body while emphasizing school-enterprise cooperation; in terms of hierarchical structure, it features the simultaneous efforts to break through the “ceiling” of upward development and stabilize the basic foundation; in terms of horizontal structure, it promotes the shift of vocational education and general education from separation toward integration; and in terms of internal and external structures, it emphasizes serving regional industries and strengthening ecological coordination. Looking ahead, China’s modern vocational education system may develop in the following directions: strengthening its nature as a distinct type of education and promoting substantive integration between vocational and general education; further extending upward in terms of educational levels and enhancing articulation among different levels; promoting both academic education and vocational training to achieve complementary development; deepening the integration of industry and education and forming a new pattern of collaborative education involving government, industry organizations, enterprises, and schools; and serving lifelong learning for all by building an open system that is inclusive, equitable, and digitally empowered.
S et al. (Wed,) studied this question.