At present, China's vocational education centers are divided into three types: 1, scientific research institutions with research guidance functions. The Institute of Vocational Education Center of the Ministry of Education is a cooperative research institution of vocational education center between Chinese and German education departments. Beijing Chaoyang Vocational Education Center and Inner Mongolia Hohhot Vocational Education Center are basically of this kind. 2 institutions that undertake some functions of the administrative department of education. Many centers are institutions composed of personnel separated from the education administrative department in the process of functional transformation, and serve as a supplement to the administrative department in supervision, evaluation and organization activities. Beijing Vocational Education Center and Haidian Vocational Education Center basically belong to this type. 3. Vocational schools. In the process of evaluating secondary vocational education, the administrative department hopes that some well-run vocational schools will play the role of demonstration, overall planning and guidance, so it names some vocational education centers, but in the process of development, they are no different from other schools. For example, the Beijing Dongcheng District Vocational Education Center formed by the merger of the three schools has developed into a secondary vocational school with direct enrollment.

Therefore, the vocational education center is neither an adult vocational school nor (at least not necessarily) a secondary school.