While its educational policy is still in a period of transition, China in 1983 is more politically moderate, with a longer projected educational program for the masses than at any time since 1949. It is providing more experiential and relevant curricula from preschool through the senior middle school, with increased facilities and financing. While trying to regain the balance between quality and equalitarianism of pre-Cultural Revolution days, the system is also attempting to meet the government's goal of "the Four Modernizations" by preparing youth morally, intellectually, and physically for the 21st century. The current educational stress on length of schooling, key schools for the gifted, examinations, and academic curricula is closely related to the country's potential as a world economic and political superpower. (LP)