The ideas and the concept of lifelong education reflect the idealism and realism of education, which determines that the concept of lifelong education is widely recognized worldwide, and that the goals and paths of the practice of lifelong education vary according to national conditions and the stages of social development. Ideologically, lifelong education has shifted from a Utopian imagination of education to the holistic ideas of the educational reform which integrate individual development and social governance; in native practice, China has gradually improved its policy discourse system, and has basically created the forms of the practice of lifelong education with Chinese characteristics, led by governments at various levels, and done by provinces, cities, counties and townships. Faced with the goals of achieving Chinese modernization and building a powerful country in education, we need to do a native practice of lifelong education in China by upholding the grand concept that education indicates lifelong education, clarifying the approaches to promoting the higher-quality education system, certifying learners’ various learning experiences as capacity capital, and exploring the establishment of a mechanism for governance featuring effective connection, openness, collaboration and multi-subject participation.