---
title: "Michelle Obama to visit China, focus on education"
description: "Given other economic and environmental problems, however, education is not high on the minds of the Chinese public."
date: "2014-03-18"
authors:
  - name: "Jacob Poushter"
    job_title: "Associate Director, Global Attitudes Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/jacob-poushter/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/03/18/michelle-obama-to-visit-china-focus-on-education/"
categories:
  - "Barack Obama"
  - "Education"
  - "Issue Priorities"
---

# Michelle Obama to visit China, focus on education

![FT_china-public-priorities](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/03/FT_china-public-priorities.png)

First Lady Michelle Obama [heads to China](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/03/first-lady-michelle-obama-travel-china-march-19-26-2014) this week on a trip intended to focus on the importance of education, as well as a visit with Madame Peng, the spouse of China’s President Xi Jinping.

Given other economic and environmental problems, however, education is not high on the minds of the Chinese public. In [our 2013 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/11/08/inflation-corruption-inequality-top-list-of-chinese-publics-concerns/), only 24% in China said education was a *very* big problem, which lagged far behind those who identified rising prices (59%), corrupt officials (53%) and the gap between the rich and the poor (52%) as major problems. However, the issue has picked up steam since 2008, when only 11% said education was a very big problem.

Chinese parents have expressed concern about putting too much pressure on their children’s academic achievements. In a [2011 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/08/22/americans-say-kids-need-more-pressure-in-school-chinese-say-less/), 68% in China said parents put too much pressure on students, the only country surveyed where a majority said this.

The focus on education issues, and not the politically sensitive topic of human and women’s rights in China, has drawn [some attention from scholars](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/on-china-trip-as-in-other-matters-michelle-obama-likely-to-steer-clear-of-controversy/2014/03/09/62591b18-a4c3-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html) who point out that First Lady Hillary Clinton met some of these issues head on in her [1995 visit to Beijing](http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/06/world/hillary-clinton-in-china-details-abuse-of-women.html). And in fact, the issue of China’s human rights record remains a concern held by people across the globe.

In spite of China’s growing economic and military power, its international image [still lags behind](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2013/07/18/americas-global-image-remains-more-positive-than-chinas/) that of the United States. And when the Pew Research Center surveyed people last year in 38 countries, asking them if China respects the personal freedoms of its people, a median of only 36% said yes.

Nevertheless, the issue of human rights does not resonate much with the American public. In a [2012 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2012/09/18/chapter-2-threats-and-concerns/#debt-trade-deficit-and-loss-of-jobs-top-concerns), only 48% of Americans saw China’s policy on human rights as a *very* serious problem, far behind concerns about economic issues between the two countries.