I do not believe that this is true for Chinese. AFAIK, Chinese primary school kids use Latin script with hanyu-pinyin as a stopgap prior to their mastery of Han script (which takes many years).
Note that when I say "recognize Latin script", I mean the ability to determine that "dog" is a three-letter word that has the letters "d", "o", and "g", each of which the individual recognizes and can name. This does not include the ability to recognize that this refers to a domesticated canine.