China’s Family Education Promotion Law: Family Governance, the Responsible Parent and the Moral Child

Abstract

This article discusses China’s newly enacted Family Education Promotion Law (FEPL). The FEPL symbolizes that family education through parenting has elevated from a private matter to a State affair in the country. The Law seeks to promote family governance through the concept of ‘parenting in accordance with the law’ so as to attain national ideals and improve the protection of minors. The prominent ends at the national level are the moral development of children and the construction of a harmonious State. Concepts of ‘population quality’ and ‘double alleviation’ are discussed with reference to their significance in relation to the enactment of the Law. The promulgation of the FEPL targets substandard parenting practices in China, including hyper-parenting on the one end and abandonment on the other. Typical practices such as inter-generational child-rearing are examined to illustrate why the Law is considered necessary from the State’s point of view. The article provides an analysis of the legislative intentions, background, and key provisions of the Law. It concludes that family governance through the notion of responsible parenting is an instrument of social policy in modern China.