Minxin Pei makes the case:
For most, the [Chinese higher education] curriculum is largely obsolete, and skewed toward rote learning of theory at the expense of basic analytical and critical-thinking skills. Education in social sciences and humanities is particularly deficient, owing to lack of investment in these disciplines and excessive political control of curricula. As a result, Chinese graduate from colleges and universities having learned relatively little about the outside world in fields such as anthropology, sociology, international relations, comparative literature, and history. Unless China reforms its ossified system, the country will not be able to produce enough highly trained talent to compete with the world’s best and brightest.
The Dish 