The [Chinese Communist] Party's Fourteenth Congress unequivocally confirmed the building of a socialist market system. The Third Plenary Session of the Party's Twelfth Congress in 1984 propounding the market led to economic reforms and the advancing of the theory of a socialist market economy. It constitutes a deepened understanding of the socialist economy and the Party's contribution to Marxism. The establishment of a socialist market-economy system is a major change in everyone's understanding of planning and market in the socialist economy and the model for economic reform. This major change entails profound changes in every area of social and economic life and exerts an enormous influence on education. In this article, the author points out that establishing the socialist market-economy system affects education in an all-around and profound manner. The author emphasizes that education should take the initiative in adapting to the socialist market economy.