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Coding should be part of basic education for Chinese kids, NetEase CEO Ding Lei says

  • China should include computer programming in its basic education curriculum to support its ambitions of becoming a tech powerhouse, Ding Lei proposes
  • The tech CEO is making the proposal for the Two Sessions, an annual meeting of China’s two main political bodies

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Ding Lei, founder and CEO of NetEase attends the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, October 20, 2019. Photo: Reuters

At what age can a child start coding? What is the right age for kids to learn computer programming?

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While ambitious parents in China are already registering kids as young as four for coding classes, the CEO of a major Chinese online gaming and entertainment company proposes that the playing field be levelled by including computer programming in China’s compulsory basic education curriculum.
William Ding Lei, the founder and chief executive of Hangzhou-based NetEase, said in a proposal for the Two Sessions that the country should have a continuous curriculum for coding from primary school to senior high school and build a resource library to help young learners pick up the skill.

His proposal also suggested including coding as part of academic examinations, which would position coding as an “important” aspect of the education system, according to the proposal released on Thursday.

Ding’s proposal comes as China aims for global supremacy in multiple hi-tech sectors, from artificial intelligence to blockchain, driving up the demand for developers and computing engineers.

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But despite China’s lofty ambitions to become an AI powerhouse and rising interest in tech-related professions, coding education in the world’s second-largest economy has remained behind those in other countries.

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