Balancing justice: understanding inclusion through the Chinese policy lens

This chapter examines how China interprets and enacts inclusive education through its evolving policies, highlighting how global ideals of justice and children’s rights are reframed within a developmental-state logic. Tracing reforms from the “Learning in Regular Classrooms” initiative of the 1980s to the current “zero-rejection” and quality-enhancement agendas, the analysis shows that China’s approach to inclusion is characterised by pragmatic balance rather than transformative change. Inclusive education has expanded access and professional capacity but continues to operate within a dual-track system that maintains special and mainstream schooling, without fundamentally challenging existing hierarchies or system logics. The chapter conceptualises this model as “balancing justice,” a form of social justice rooted in Confucian ethics of harmony, meritocracy, and moral governance. Justice is pursued through procedural coordination, stability, and moral order rather than through rights-based redistribution. Drawing on key policy documents and Chinese cultural traditions, the chapter argues that inclusion in China is intended to serve both as a moral project and as a governance strategy, reconciling equity with efficiency. It concludes by proposing that future progress depends on enhancing procedural fairness, stakeholder participation, and accountability to move from managed inclusion toward more participatory and equitable educational justice.