As China has opened up its economy to the rest of the world over the last few years, it has, like Taiwan, attempted to increase its global competitiveness by moving the start of its students 'English-language studies from middle school to primary school.
張思中提出的十六字箴言，成為外語教學研究的重要流派之一。近年中國大陸門戶大開，為提高競爭力，英語教學也和台灣一樣向下延伸到小學。