Profound demographic transformations have emerged as pivotal factors influencing China’s national initiative to build a leading country in education. The nation has transitioned from population growth to demographic contraction, characterized by declining birth rates, population aging, and regional divergence in population dynamics. These shifts present unprecedented challenges, such as wave-like fluctuations in school-age populations, concurrent educational “overcrowding” in urban areas and “underutilization” in rural regions, eastern “schooling shortages” alongside western “facility vacancies,” and supply-demand mismatches in preschool and elderly education. The 2024- 2035 Master Plan on Building China into a Leading Country in Education delineates four strategic responses, namely, aligning educational structures with high-quality demographic development, establishing early-warning systems for enrollment fluctuations across basic education stages, expanding educational resources in net population inflow regions, and enhancing special education and ensuring equal rights for migrant children’s compulsory education. The profound implications of demographic shifts on education have emerged as an unavoidable and enduring issue requiring comprehensive planning and implementation from multidimensional perspectives. First, integrated policy design must strengthen top-level institutional mechanisms to coordinate education development with demographic shifts. Second, evidence-based research requires educational think tanks to lead demographic trend forecasting and longitudinal evaluations. Third, pilot-driven adaptation should test resource reallocation models responsive to population changes to inform systemic adjustments. Fourth, global benchmarking must localize international best practices in demographically responsive education innovation. Finally, digital transformation is essential to construct adaptive educational ecosystems oriented toward high-quality population development.