I think there is no strong proof that the numbered name of middle schools is related to the planning economy, at least not in Beijing. For instance, Beijing No. read more
A large number of Chinese students studied in the Soviet Union before educational links and other cooperative programs with the Soviet Union were severed in the late 1950s (see Sino-Soviet split). In the 1960s and 1970s, China continued to send a small number of students abroad, primarily to European universities. read more