The Study Xi app, developed by China’s Propaganda Department with the help of Alibaba, records users’ progress for reading content and awards points available for all to see.

(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)

The new kids-focused app aims to achieve something similar. Designed with the support of China's Ministry of Education, state-owned newspaper People's Daily and the youth organization Young Pioneers of China, it allows school teachers to monitor how many articles their students have read. No need for parental approval to sign up.

The content changes according to age group. Kids in first through fourth grade are served articles with headlines like Xi Daddy is leading us to the New Era, I am Chinese, and Get to know the Silk Road. This way they can learn the basics about their country and its (great) leader.

Older students can read comics conveying profound lessons encapsulated in a quote from one of Xi Jinping’s speeches. Or they may choose to read explainers on why they should practice socialist core values and promote patriotism, collectivism and socialist ideology.

The app even caters to more advanced learners with readings on the "correct understanding" of China's development and why serving the people is the purpose of the Chinese Communist Party.

To get kids to embrace all this inspiring content, schools are also expected to organize a series of activities that last through October, when the results of the project should be evaluated. These events include seminars, speeches and thematic classes expounding Xi Jinping Thought.

With the Study Xi and Learn New Ideas apps, present propaganda efforts seem focused on yielding quantifiable results in the form of points for gulping down content. Study Xi has also grown its content over time, adding skill training videos and even entertainment such as soap operas (government approved, of course).