After 20 years, China hits education expenditure target

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao announced on Tuesday that the country's public expenditures on education reached 4 percent of its GDP in 2012, a target set almost 20 years ago.

"Government spending on education totaled 7.79 trillion yuan over the past five years, increasing at an average annual rate of 21.58 percent to reach 4 percent of the GDP in 2012," Wen said in his annual work report delivered to deputies to the top legislature. (7.79 trillion yuan is equal to 1.25 trillion U.S. dollars.)

Wen's remarks won warm applause from the audience in the Great Hall of the People, but did little to convince education experts and the public about the progress the country is making in the sector.

A DELAYED GOAL

Dr. Xiong Bingqi, an outspoken scholar on education, commented on his blog that it was an historical accomplishment, but a relatively low-level goal achieved 12 years after its original deadline.

In 1993, China issued a guideline on educational reform and development, in which it pledged to raise the government's input on education to 4 percent of the GDP by the end of 2000.

According to UNESCO's World Education Report 2000, the world average education expenditure was 4.7 percent of a country's GDP and the average for developed countries in Asia and Oceania stood at 4.0 in 1990, when China recorded just 2.3 percent.

Sun Lijian, a finance professor with the Shanghai-based Fudan University, said attaining the 4-percent threshold has profound meaning, as China's work to shift its economic growth pattern has to be based on enhancing education.