Abstract
In 2010, Chinaʼs government promulgated policies that, within a decade, saw early childhood education universalised across China. In this mixed-method study, we examine how a preschool advocacy coalition convinced the government to embrace these policies at a time when China was classified as a low and middle-income country by the World Bank. We posit that, in large part, this was because advocates combined both moral and economic development arguments and, by so doing, built a coalition that included educators, parents and actors with the influence and political skills required to provide coordinated leadership and governance.