China’s fiscal expenditure on education exceeded 3.13 trillion yuan ($474.1 billion) for the first time, up 7.44 percent from the previous year, indicating that China has been giving priority to developing education, said an announcement recently, Cyol.com reported on Nov. 2.

According to the joint announcement by the Ministry of Education, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the Ministry of Finance, China’s expenditure on education has remained over 4 percent of its GDP for five consecutive years since 2012, accounting for 4.22 percent in 2016.

Although there is still a gap between China and developed countries regarding expenditure on education, the increased input indicates that China has been giving priority to developing education in recent years.

It is foreseeable that against such a backdrop, China will continue to increase its input in education in the future, and will focus on making better use of the funds to achieve its educational development goals.

For a long time, China’s education input was characterized by an imbalance between urban and rural areas, as well as higher and elementary education, which hindered educational development in rural areas, central and western regions, and elementary education.

However, the situation is getting better, as China now lays more stress on compulsory education, improving teachers’ salary and student aid, and educational input in relatively underdeveloped central and western regions.

In addition, China will step up efforts to optimize the investment structure in education, increase the supply of quality educational resources, and improve its subsidization system and the management of educational expenditures.