The earlier starting age for learning English is apparent in the non‐Anglophone world. However, in China, kindergartens are banned from delivering subjects that are designated for primary school level, including English language lessons, as part of reforms to eliminate “schoolification” of preschool education. This qualitative study takes a multi‐level approach to language‐in‐education planning to explore how local education authorities and different types of kindergartens in the city of Hefei, China, interpret and respond to this macro‐level policy. The findings reveal a disparity between officials and school participants in their attitudes toward preschool English language education, as well as divergence between public and private kindergartens in their current English provision. The study probes these disparities and their links to the interplay between the meso‐level local education authority and the different types of kindergartens, as well as the relationship between the government and the market. 摘要 在非英语国家, 英语学习的低龄化趋势愈发明显。然而, 在“去小学化”政策的要求下, 英语作为小学科目被禁止在中国幼儿园教学。本定性研究采用多层级语言教育规划框架, 主要探讨地方教育局及不同类型幼儿园对这一政策的认识和回应。研究结果表明, 教育局工作人员和学校相关利益者对学前英语教育呈不同态度, 公办和民办幼儿园对这一政策的回应也存在差异。据此, 本研究深入讨论了地方教育局和不同类型幼儿园之间的相互作用, 以及政府与市场二元关系对中国学前英语教育的影响。