Today it is accepted that the development of gifted and talented children is important to enable a nation to compete successfully. In China, though the estimated number of gifted children reaches 20 million (Chu, 2012), gifted education has seldom received sufficient support. The objections to gifted education always suppress suggestions that support programs for gifted students when educational policy is drafted. Starting with a historical review of the gifted education programs and policies in China since 1978, this paper discusses the main reasons for lack of support for gifted education in China from social and cultural perspectives. I conclude that the long-lasting ideology of egalitarianism, the overwhelming pursuit of educational equity and the dominant ideology of socialism have significantly hindered the development of gifted education. Driven by such beliefs and ideologies, the concept of giftedness and gifted education, the relationship between egalitarianism and elitism, and between equity and equality, are often severely misunderstood, which not only harms existing gifted education programs, but suppresses the potential for open discussion about the implementation of gifted education. Finally, I propose how gifted education should be framed in the future educational reform scheme in China and other countries with similar cultural and social environments.