On July 15, the MOE's college student financial aid hotline was inaugurated at the National Center for Student Financial Aid in Beijing and attended by Vice Minister of Education Zheng Fuzhi. Before the ceremony, Zheng visited the staff of the Center and sent regards via a video call to those working on student financial aid nationwide.

The Chinese government has placed great emphasis on education for students from impoverished families and strived to provide institutional assurance for their access to education through continuous improvement in the student financial aid system and increasing funding for student financial aid.

2020 marks the 16th year of such a routine hotline being opened by the MOE. Given the circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to offer better services to underprivileged students, newly enrolled in universities, and their parents, the MOE extended the hotline service this year by one more week, thereby keeping the service open from July 15 to September 18, which would be the longest ever. Hotline operators are available seven days a week, from 8 AM to 8 PM.

Meanwhile, the MOE required local education authorities and HEIs across the country to open hotlines in 2020 to provide information on student financial aid.

The MOE also reminded students and parents to remain vigilant against scams as the new school year approached, which is often a period of rampant fraud.