A party member volunteer gave sports equipment to a student of Miao ethnic group at DaxinVillage, Liuzhou city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 6. A total of 72 students of the Miao, Yao and other ethnic groups received books, stationery and sports equipment donated by the organization department of Liuzhou and other 28 organizations. Meanwhile, a total of 290,000 yuan ($42,000) will donated by them to subsidize over 300 impoverished students for three consecutive years. (Photo by Pang Geping, Long Zhilin from People's Daily)

China’s financial support for students, especially those from remote and poverty-stricken areas, has reported rapid growth for ten consecutive years since the country launched the nationwide student aid program in 2007.

In 2016, more than 90 million Chinese students received financial support from the program, up 7.6 percent year on year, according to a recent report released by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

In the given period, China spent more than 160 billion yuan ($23.2 billion) to help students of all levels from pre-school up to university, registering an 8.24 percent growth from the previous year, the education authority said.

Of the total financial aid, over 110 billion yuan ($15.9 billion) came from government finance, 5.73 billion yuan more than last year, or up 5.45 percent, while another 58 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) was from National StudentLoanProgram , schools' funds and social donations, 7.1 billion yuan more than last year, or up 13.4 percent.

The fund allocated to provide free textbooks and nutritious meals for students is not included in the 110. 92 billion yuan of government funds, according to the authority, adding that the donors from social sectors included public institutions, businesses, non-governmental organizations and individuals.

The ministry disclosed that it will set targeted aid and aid for education as two key tasks in future.

Last year, the National Center for Student Financial Aid under the MOE launched a pilot project, which allowed students who get state loans at high schools to be subsidizedwithout a reapplication after they are admitted by university. In 2016, a total of 620,000 university students have benefited from the program.

In 2017, the China Development Bank (CDB) will spread the pre-application system to nationwide high schools, according to Xiao Zhiming, an official in charge of financial poverty alleviation affairswith the CDB.

The work this year will start in March, two months earlier than previous years, so that those impoverished students can better prepare for their entrance examswithout worries about university tuition, Xiao explained.