Abstract: From different perspectives and methodologies, both key competency and comprehensive quality seek to answer the fundamental question of"What kind of person do we want to cultivate?" On the one hand, it's believed that key competency emphasizes on the key elements out of the numerous, following a simplified paradigm of scientific analysis used in the western academic community. On the other hand, comprehensive quality is closely related to the systematic, relational and generative thinking and value orientations, which emphasizes more on the balance and harmony of human development, including the relationships between body and mind, knowing and doing, humanity and science. Further research on comprehensive quality needs to examine not only what the constituent qualities are, but also what relationships there are between them that have defined the implications of the conception, as it is such relationships that have constituted the"hard core" of the conception.The term quality in the Chinese context is not limited to the inborn traits from the perspective of physiological anatomy, but the harmony of body and mind, the combination of nature and nurture, as well as their interdependence. It also means the unity of knowing and doing, as the true knowing is the authentic experience from doing, while effective doing involves prospective and reflective thinking. Besides, it is the accommodation of humanity and science, which allows wise decisions and actions to happen in certain circumstance based on the comprehensive consideration of appropriate information.Future is beyond our imagination. Compared with key competency, which stresses the"key" and"few", the conception of comprehensive quality, which is rooted in the Chinese culture and stresses more on the extensive adaptability, has its own advantages, and thus could be an effective strategy responding to the ever-changing future. There is no denying that key competency describes the key elements of comprehensive quality, which helps deepen our understanding of comprehensive quality, especially the relationships between different layers and aspects. In other words, the relationship between key competency and comprehensive quality is complementary, rather than substituted.