London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Mandatory sex education amendment sparks debate on sexuality in China

Mandatory sex education amendment sparks debate on sexuality in China

From 2021, schools should conduct ‘age-appropriate sex education for minors’, helping them protect themselves against abuse and sexual harassment.

Minutes before Professor Liu Wenli was set to speak in a webinar on the development of sex education in China, she learned that the country’s top legislative body had passed an amendment making sex education mandatory from next year.

She quickly added a new slide on the change, according to her research group’s WeChat account, with the amended law mandating the inclusion in school syllabuses of “sex education”.

Those three Chinese characters can also be translated as “sexuality education”, which Liu and her fellow advocates have long fought for. In 2017, a textbook series she edited was removed from a school after complaints about explicit content and that the books normalised homosexuality.


On October 17, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee declared that schools, including kindergartens, should conduct “age-appropriate sex education for minors, increasing their awareness and ability to protect themselves against sexual abuse and sexual harassment”.

A hashtag about the change garnered 25 million views on the Twitter-like Weibo. During Liu’s presentation, participants filled the room’s chatbox with messages celebrating the milestone, one attendee said.

Although the government has issued policies on sex education for decades, implementation has been limited. Advocates say that what little sex education is taught lags behind current science. Some urge going beyond biology to teach students how to navigate relationships and sexuality.

It remains unclear how the law, which goes into effect on June 1, 2021, will be implemented.

Li Hongyan of Unesco Beijing, who lobbied for the change, said the government was cautious when making changes to education, especially on sexuality, which could be viewed as promoting individuality or could prompt a backlash.

Many advocates refer to Unesco’s “comprehensive sexuality education” guidelines.

But there is discussion around whether international guidelines should be adopted, or if there should be a form of “sexuality education with Chinese characteristics”, said Liu Chong, a researcher at the University of Leeds.


Survey results published this year by the China Family Planning Association and Tsinghua University found 52 per cent of the 54,580 university students polled said they had received sex education.

Hu Jiawei faced many rejections from schools when he began volunteering to teach children sex education in 2013.

Since then, the 28-year-old founder of a sex-education company has seen demand for his services increase, which he attributes in part to more reports of child sexual abuse in recent years.

“With more tragedies, you naturally realise the importance of sex education,” he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×