I agree. It's an open secret that their government and leader in particular are strict when it comes with their tradition and culture. They cherish it so much to the point that learning other language such as english is a privilege enjoyed by those middle class and elites that can afford to enroll in learning international languages.
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Do not forget that it is logical for the people of China to learn the languages of their neighboring countries. Korean, Japanese, maybe Malay and Vietnamese.
Or even Russian. It is quite possible that the study of these languages also takes quite a lot of time for schoolchildren to study them.
So English is shifted to a lower level of priority for its development by schoolchildren and then by students.