Recently, the Ministry of Education released an at-a-glance summary of the latest statistics available for spending in education, in 2018. The breakdown data are as follows:

Overall spending nationwide

In 2018, China’s spending on education totaled RMB 4.6135 trillion, marking a year-on-year increase of 8.39%. Public funding from government finances, government-managed funds, businesses running schools in partnership with the government, school-run businesses, and not-for-profit organizations, among others, amounted to RMB 3.699 trillion, an 8.13% increase on the previous year.

Spending by level of education

The distribution of funding among different levels of education is as follows:

(1) Preschool: RMB 367.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.79%.

(2) Elementary and junior high school: RMB 2.0858 trillion, up 7.73% over the previous year.

(3) Senior high school: RMB 718.4 billion, up 8.23% over the previous year, including RMB 246.3 billion on secondary vocational school education, a year-on-year increase of 6.17%.

(4) Higher education: RMB 1.2013 trillion, up 8.15% over the previous year, including RMB 215 billion on tertiary vocational school, a year-on-year increase of 6.16%.

(5) Spending on other education came up to RMB 240.8 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9.45%.

Spending per student

China’s spending per student across all levels of education is as follows:

(1) Preschool: RMB 10,648, a year-on-year increase of 8.93%. 

(2) Elementary school: RMB 12,733, up 4.56%.

(3) Junior high school: RMB 18,481, up 5.32%.

(4) Senior high school: RMB 20,441, up 10.04%.

(5) Secondary vocational school: RMB 19,742, up 7.45%.

(6) Higher education institution: RMB 36,294, up 8.42%.