In 2018, China continued to modernize its education system through further reforms aimed at promoting quality education and moving up in global education ranking in line with President Xi’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era and the guidelines on education set forth at the 19th National Congress of the CPC. Tremendous achievements were made in all education sub-sectors at all educational stages.

I. Overall progress

In 2018, China had 518,800 educational institutions¹, 5,017 more than in the previous year. 276 million students were enrolled in degree-granting institutions, an increase of 5.394 million students from 2017, up 2%. The number of full-time teachers working in institutions at all levels was 16.7285 million, an increase of 459,600 or up 2.8% compared to 2017.

The floor area in educational institutions² across the country covered 3.573 billion square meters, up 4.5% or 154 million square meters more than in the previous year. Assets in teaching and scientific research equipment totaled RMB 1.021821 trillion, up 11.2% or RMB 102.726 billion from the previous year.

II. Compulsory education

In 2018, the compulsory education entered the decisive stage of realizing balanced development. While new advances were made in the improvement of enrollments rates, school conditions and teaching staff qualifications, the urban-rural³ gaps were further narrowed and the access to basic public educational services was continuously ensured.

1. Schools and students

In 2018, there were 213,800 schools for compulsory education across the country, 5,110 fewer than in the previous year. The number of new entrants into compulsory education was 34.6989 million, an increase of 4.7% or 1.5611 million students from 2017. The number of students in compulsory education was 150 million, an increase of 3.1% or 4.5608 million students from 2017.

The number of students enrolled and retained in primary schools continued to rise, especially in urban schools. In 2018, there were 161,800 primary schools, signaling a fall of 5,198 schools from 2017. Primary schools enrolled 18.673 million pupils, an increase of 5.7% or 1.0074 million from 2017. Urban and rural primary schools enrolled 7.1351 million and 11.5379 million pupils, up 13.2% and 1.5%, respectively. The total number of primary school pupils across the country reached 103.3925 million, marking an increase of 2.4% or 2.4556 million students over the previous year.

The number of students enrolled and retained in junior high schools also continued to rise, especially in urban schools. In 2018, there were 52,000 junior high schools, 88 more than in 2017, which enrolled 16.0259 million students, an increase of 3.6% or 553,700 students over 2017. Urban and rural junior high schools enrolled 5.8156 million and 10.2103 million students, up 5.7% and 2.4% from 2017, respectively. The number of junior high school students totaled 46.5259 million, up 4.7%, or an increase of 2.1052 million students, year on year.

The number of students in primary schools for every 100,000 people increased by 138 over the previous year, to 7,438, while the number of junior high school students increased by 134, to 3,347.

2. Higher enrollment and completion rates

In 2018, 99.95% of the school-age children across the country were in school, and the gap between the sexes was almost closed in most provinces. The gross enrollment rate in lower secondary education remained reached 100.9%, which is largely at the same level as that of high-income countries.

The junior and senior high school admission rates increased by 0.3 percentage points and 0.3 percentage points to 99.1% and 95.2%, respectively. The ratio of enrollment to graduation at compulsory education level reached 94.2%, up 0.4 percentage points on 2017, indicating progress towards the goal of balanced quality education.

3. Compulsory education for children of migrant workers

In 2018, governments at sub-national levels stepped up efforts to implement favorable education policies and measures for the children of migrant workers. A total of 14.2404 million children⁴ received education in cities where their migrant parents worked, up 1.2% from 2017 and representing 9.5% of all students in their host schools, a slight decrease of 0.2 percentage points from 2017. 79.4% of these students studied in state-run schools, a slight decrease of 0.3 percentage points from 2017.

In terms of the educational stage, 10.4839 million school-children were enrolled in host primary schools (78.9% in state-run ones), an increase of 62,100 students from the previous year, and 3.7565 million in host junior high schools (80.8% in state-run ones), an increase of 111,900 students from 2017.

Geographically, 58.4% of the newcomers, or 8.3152 million school-children, were enrolled in schools in the eastern regions. Inner-provincial migration was the major source of the transient students, with inter-county mobility accounting for 56.8% of them.

4. Teachers

In 2018, the number of full-time teachers in compulsory education stood at 9.7309 million, up 237,300 or 2.5% on 2017. The numbers of full-time teachers in primary and junior high schools were 6.0919 million and 3.639 million, respectively, an increase of 147,000 and 90,300 teachers from the previous year. The student-teacher ratios at primary schools and the lower secondary education level were 17:1 and 12.8:1, respectively.

The number of teachers with an associate or college degree teaching the 9-year compulsory education continued to increase, with faster improvement in teaching credentials among the rural teacher population, further closing the urban-rural divide. In 2018, 96.5% of primary school teachers had an associate degree or higher, up 1.2 percentage points from 2017. The urban-rural gap at this educational stage closed 1.1 percentage points year on year to 3.5 percentage points, with 95.3% of rural teachers holding an associate degree or higher. 86.2% of junior high school teachers had a four-year college degree or higher, up 1.6 percentage points from last year. The urban-rural gap at the lower secondary education level closed by 0.8 percentage points year on year to 9.6 percentage points, with 82.8% of rural teachers having a college degree.

48.7% of primary school teachers across the country held a junior professional title or higher, down 1.5 percentage points from 2017. That proportion for rural teachers stood at 48.4%, shortening the urban-rural gap from 1.8 percentage points to 0.9 percentage points. 60.5% of junior high school teachers across the country held a junior professional title or higher, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous year. That proportion for rural teachers was 59.3%, reducing the urban-rural difference from 4.3 percentage points to 3.2 percentage points.

5. School and class sizes

In 2018, schools for compulsory education continued to expand in size, while their class sizes remained stable. Regular primary schools had 639 students on average, an increase of 35 pupils on the previous year. Junior high schools had an average of 895 students, an increase of 39 students compared to 2017. The average class size for primary schools was 38 pupils, the same as in the previous year, and the figure was 46 students for junior high schools, 1 fewer than in the previous year.

The number of large-sized classes decreased significantly while their proportion continued to drop. In primary schools, a total of 165,800 large-sized classes (which had 56 to 65 school-children) accounted for 6% of all classes, down 0.8 percentage points or 17,200 from 2017. In junior high schools, a total of 80,400 classes or 8% of all classes were oversized, down 2.5 percentage points or 19,000 year on year. The proportions of super-sized classes (with 66 or more students) in regular primary and junior high schools both dropped below 1 percentage point to 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, down 1.6 percentage points and 2.5 percentage points from the previous year.

Investment in educational facilities continued to increase in schools providing compulsory education across the country, shrinking urban-rural differences. In 2018, the average value of equipment per student in primary schools was RMB 1,558, an increase of RMB 153 or 10.9% over the previous year. The figure in rural primary schools was 75.8% of that in urban primary schools, 4.4 percentage points more than that in 2017. The average value of equipment per student in junior high schools was RMB 2,453, an increase of RMB 188 or 8.3% over the previous year. The figure in rural junior high schools represented 76% of that in urban junior high schools, 0.8 percentage points more than that in 2017.

Schools providing compulsory education continued to make progress in their informatization drive, with the coverage of quality resources expanding and information technology being further integrated into teaching practices. In 2018, the average number of instructional computers per 100 students in primary schools increased from 10.5 to 11.1, and that in junior high schools rose from 14.8 to 15.2 compared to last year.

A higher proportion of compulsory education schools provided internet access, and in this aspect, the gap between rural and urban areas was smaller. In 2018, 97.8% of primary schools provided internet access. The numbers for schools in urban and rural areas were 98.3% and 97.7%, respectively, shortening the urban-rural divide to below 1 percentage point. 99% of junior high schools provided internet access. The numbers for urban and rural areas were 98.2% and 99.2%, respectively, indicating that the urban-rural gap was almost completely closed.

The proportion of schools with a local area network (LAN) continued to increase, though the urban-rural gap in this aspect remained significant. In 2018, 67.6% of primary schools and 77.3% of junior high schools had established a LAN, an increase of 3.2 percentage points and 0.6 percentage points over the previous year, respectively. In rural areas, 64.5% of primary schools and 74.4% of junior high schools were equipped with a LAN, which were 18 percentage points and 12 percentage points below the rates in urban areas, respectively.

III. Preschool and special education

1. Preschool education

In 2018, the State Council issued Several Opinions on Deepening the Reform and Standardizing the Development of Preschool Education, which addressed many challenges, pain points and issues of wide concern in this educational stage and offered guidance for further improving the public educational service system at the preschool level and providing quality preschool education in the new era.

China had 266,700 kindergartens, an increase of 11,700 over 2017. Children enrolled in kindergartens numbered 18.6391 million, a decrease of 740,400 or 3.8% over the previous year. Those registered in kindergartens totaled 46.5642 million, an increase of 562,800 or 1.2% over 2017. In urban areas, children registered in kindergartens reached 17.736 million, an increase of 3.9% over the previous year, while in rural areas, the figure dropped slightly to 28.8282 million, down 0.4% or 104,700 from 2017.

Kindergartens providing general preschool education⁵ totaled 182,900 across the country, accounting for 68.6% (up 4 percentage points from the previous year) of all kindergartens, an increase of 11.1% or 18,300 kindergartens over 2017. 73.3% of rural kindergartens offered general preschool education, 15 percentage points higher than that of urban ones. Children⁶ enrolled in kindergartens providing general preschool education amounted to 34.0223 million, which rose by 4.7% or 1.5323 million compared to last year and represented 73.1% of all preschool children across the country, up 2.4 percentage points from 2017.

In 2018, access to preschool education was further expanded, with the three-year preschool enrolment rate rising 2.1 percentage points over 2017, to 81.7%. 99.1% of newly enrolled primary school students had received preschool education, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the previous year. The number of those who received preschool education per 100,000 people was 3,350, an increase of 23 over the previous year.

Progress was also made in building a more skilled and better-educated teacher workforce, with the student-teacher ratio dropping continuously. In 2018, there were 2.5814 million full-time kindergarten teachers across the country, an increase of 149,200 or 6.1% over the previous year. The student-teacher ratio decreased from 17.2:1 of the previous year to 16.6:1. The proportion of teachers with a college degree or higher increased from 79.1% of the previous year to 81%. In rural areas, the proportion of teachers with such a degree was 75.3%, 12.0 percentage points lower than that in urban areas, reflecting still a sizable gap. 70.9% of full-time kindergarten teachers had received professional training in preschool education, an increase of 1.6 percentage points over 2017.

2. Special education

In 2018, there were 2,152 special schools across the country, an increase of 45 over the previous year. Students registered in such schools totaled 665,900, an increase of 87,100 or 15.1% over the previous year. Among these students, 116,400 were benefited from “home delivery” teaching programs, marking an increase of 51,200 from last year and accounting for 17.5% (6.2 percentage points up from 2017) of all students studying in schools providing special education.

Students receiving special education at primary schools totaled 479,300, an increase of 56,700 or 13.4% over the previous year. Among these students, 49.1% (2.9 percentage points lower than in the previous year) or 235,000 attended regular classes or special education classes in regular primary schools, an increase of 7.1% over the previous year.

Students receiving special education at the lower secondary education level totaled 176,200, an increase of 29,400 or 20.5% over the previous year. Among these students, 55% (2.8 percentage points lower than in the previous year) or 96,800 attended regular classes or special education classes in regular junior high schools, an increase of 14.7% over the previous year.

Students receiving special education at the upper secondary education level totaled 10,500, an increase of 446 or 4.4% over the previous year.

In 2018, China had 58,700 full-time teachers undertaking special education programs, an increase of 2,677 or 4.8% over the previous year. Among these teachers, those having received professional training accounted for 75.7%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points over 2017.

IV. Upper secondary education

Following the requirements for promoting the enrollment rate and the holistic development of upper secondary education raised at the 18th CPC National Congress, new tasks were given at the 19th CPC National Congress that access to upper secondary education should be further expanded and it should be made possible for most incoming labor force joiners in both urban and rural areas to receive upper secondary education. In 2018, though the number of students in upper secondary education dropped slightly, access to upper secondary education showed a small increase while the student-teacher ratio and school conditions underwent further improvement.

1. Scale and coverage of upper secondary education

In 2018, there were a total of 24,300 schools offering upper secondary education⁷, a decrease of 298 than the previous year. Students newly enrolled totaled 13.4976 million, a decrease of 327,300, or 2.4% over the previous year. Students registered in these schools reached 39.3467 million, an increase of 363,200 or 0.9% over the previous year. The average number of students registered in these schools per 100 thousand people stood at 2,828, a decrease of 33 over the previous year. The gross enrollment rate at the upper secondary level was 88.8%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points over the previous year. This shows that the vast majority of new entrants into the workforce have received at least an upper secondary education.

There were 13,700 regular senior high schools across the country (an increase of 182 over the previous year), with a total of 7.9271 million students admitted (a decrease of 73,500 or 0.9% over the previous year) and 23.7537 million students registered (an increase of 8,200 or 0.03% over the previous year).

There were 10,200 secondary vocational schools⁸ across the country (a decrease of 442 over the previous year), and a total of 5.5705 million students newly admitted (a decrease of 253,800 or 4.4% over the previous year), which accounted for 41.3% of all those admitted in schools offering upper secondary education (a decrease of 0.8 percentage points over the previous year). There are 15.5526 million students registered in secondary vocational schools (a decrease of 372,300 or 2.3% over the previous year), which accounted for 39.5% of all those registered in schools offering upper secondary education (a decrease of 0.6 percentage points over the previous year).

2. Teaching workforce at upper secondary level

The number of full-time teachers at upper secondary level reached 2.6482 million in 2018, while the number of full-time teachers teaching at ordinary junior high schools rose 2.2%, or 38,600, to 1.8126 million. The student-teacher ratio declined from 13.4:1 in 2017 to 13.1:1 in 2018, reflecting an improvement in the deployment of the teaching workforce. The number of full-time teachers with a Bachelor’s degree or higher rose 0.3 percentage points from the previous year to 98.4%.

For secondary vocational schools, the number of full-time teachers dropped to 833,500 in 2018, marking a 0.7% decrease or 5,677 fewer teachers than in the previous year while the number of full-time teachers with a Bachelor’s degree or higher rose 0.5 percentage points from the previous year to 92.1%. The student-teacher ratio⁹ declined from 19.6:1 in 2017 to 19.1:1 in 2018, and teachers with a “double qualification” accounted for 30.6% of all teachers, 0.7 percentage points higher than in the previous year.  

3. Senior high school conditions

In 2018, senior high schools counted on average 1,729 students, which were 23 fewer students than in the previous year. The average class size in these schools was 51, 1 fewer student than in the previous year. The number of oversized classes was 86,400, accounting for 18.6% of the total and marking a 2.3-percentage-point decrease or 8,900 fewer than in the previous year, while the number of super-oversized classes was 32,600, accounting for 7.0% of the total and marking a 2.5 percentage points decrease or 11,000 fewer than in the previous year.

The average floor area in schools per student stood at 22.82 square meters, 1.13 square meters up on 2017, while the average value of equipment per student reached RMB 4,124, marking an increase of 10.6% or RMB 395 up on 2017. Every hundred students were equipped with 19.20 instructional computers or 1.09 more than in 2017, while schools with LAN networks represented 88.1% of all senior high schools, a slight decrease of 0.3 percentage points than in the previous year.

4. Secondary vocational school conditions

In 2018, the average number of students in secondary vocational schools was 1,546 or an increase of 13 than in the previous year. The average floor area in school per student stood at 19.40 square meters, 0.75 square meters up on 2017, while the average value of equipment per student arrived at RMB 7,123, marking an increase of 12.0% or RMB 761 on 2017. There were 23.07 instructional computers per hundred students, up 1.27 compared to 2017.

V. Higher Education

In 2018, under the overarching educational strategy of stabilizing scale, adjusting structure and promoting equality and quality, China’s higher education continued to grow steadily with a more refined system, expanded access, improved teaching infrastructure and better qualified teaching workforces.

1. Higher education enrollment

There were 2,940 higher education institutions (HEIs) across China in 2018. This means that compared to the previous year there were 32 additional regular HEIs bringing the total to 2,663 (including 265 independent colleges); there were 1,245 universities offering Bachelor’s degrees, an increase of 2 over the previous year. The number of higher vocational education institutes was 1,418, an increase of 30 over the previous year. The number of adult HEIs was 277, a decrease of 5 over the previous year. For the same period, there were a total of 815 institutions offering postgraduate programs.

Graduate institutes across China enrolled 858,000 students (full-time: 739,300), an increase of 51,900 or 6.4% over the previous year. Among them there were 95,500 doctoral students and 762,500 master students.

As the national government has vigorously promoted professional degree programs at postgraduate level to foster a greater number of practice-oriented professionals, enrollment on professional doctorate degree programs reached 6,784, marking an increase of 3.9 percentage points on the previous year and representing 7.1% of all enrolled doctoral students, while those signing up for professional Master’s degree programs also went up to 439,800, marking an increase of 2.0 percentage points on the previous year and representing 57.7% of all enrolled master students.

Total enrollment in undergraduate programs in regular HEIs went up 3.9% to 7.9099 million, an increase of 295,000 students over the previous year, while the enrollment in adult HEIs went up quickly to 2.7331 million, an increase of 25.6% or 557,800 students over the previous year.

2. Students currently enrolled on higher education programs

In 2018, there were 38.33 million students across the country, enrolled in one form or another of higher education. The gross enrollment rate rose to 48.1%, 2.4 percentage points up on 2017. 2,658 out of every 100,000 people in the population were registered on some type of higher education program, marking an increase of 82 over the previous year.

The total number of current postgraduate students went up 3.5% to 2.7313 million, an increase of 92,700 over the previous year. Among them 389,500 were studying for Doctoral degrees and 2.3417 million for Master’s degrees.

The number of students currently enrolled in an undergraduate program in regular HEIs went up by 2.8% or 774,500 to 28.3103 million, while those enrolled in adult HEIs went up by 8.6% or 468,400 to 5.9099 million.

3. Higher education graduation data

In 2018, 604,400 people graduated from postgraduate programs in China, marking a 4.6% increase or 26,300 more graduates than in 2017, of which there were 60,700 doctoral graduates and 543,600 Master’s graduates.

The number of undergraduates receiving a Bachelor degree was 7.5331 million, 2.4% up or 174,800 more than in 2017.

4. Teaching workforce in regular HEIs

With more faculty members holding degrees level or above qualifications, the quality of the teaching workforce in regular HEIs was further improved. The number of full-time teachers in regular HEIs reached 1.6728 million, showing a 2.4% increase or 39,500 more teachers than in the previous year. The average student-teacher ratio for all regular HEIs¹⁰ was 17.6:1. The student-teacher ratio in colleges or universities offering undergraduate degrees was 17.4:1, same as the previous year, while the student-teacher ratio in higher vocational education institutes for the same period went up to 17.9:1.

In 2018, 73.6% of all faculty members in regular HEIs held a Master’s degree or above, up 1.7 percentage points from the previous year. The percentages for colleges or universities offering undergraduate programs and in higher vocational education institutes were 83.7% and 50.0%, showing a rise of 1.7 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points, respectively.

In 2018, the proportion of teachers holding senior professional titles increased slightly. 43.2% of teachers at higher education level had a senior professional title, up 0.4 percentage points on 2017. More specifically, 48.7% of teachers at regular HEIs had a professional title, up 0.5 percentage points; while the proportion was 30.3% for vocational colleges, up 0.2 percentage points over 2017.   

5. Regular higher education institutions

Rapid progress was made in the provision of equipment and facilities for research and teaching, informatization and online courses, which helped to improve teaching quality.

In 2018, the average number of students per regular HEI¹¹ in China was 10,605, an increase of 175 on the previous year. More specifically, the average number of students per undergraduate college/university and per higher vocational school was 14,896 and 6,837, showing an increase of 257 and 175, respectively, over the previous year.

There was a slight decrease in the average school floor area per regular HEI student in 2018, which was 13.9 square meters, marking a decrease of 0.1 square meters on the previous year. More specifically, the average school floor area per undergraduate college/university student was 13.2 square meters, a decrease of 0.1 square meters, while the average school floor area per higher vocational school student reached 15.3 square meters, marking an increase of 0.1 square meters over the previous year.

Nation-wide progress was made in the provision of equipment and facilities for research and teaching. In 2018, the average value of equipment per student in regular HEIs was RMB 15,700, an increase of 7.6% over the previous year. More specifically, the average value of equipment per student in undergraduate colleges/universities and higher vocational schools was RMB 18,300 and RMB 9,875, an increase of 8.0% and 6.9%, respectively.

In 2018, the average number of instructional computers per 100 regular HEI students was 26.9, an increase of 0.2 over the previous year. The average number of instructional computers per 100 undergraduate college/university students was 26.7, the previous year, and the average number of instructional computers per 100 higher vocational school students increased by 0.7 to 27.5.

VI. Adult education and literacy education

In 2018, there were 8,400 schools offering primary level education to adults, with 732,500 students, 19,000 teaching and administrative faculty members and 10,400 teaching faculty members. There were 444 establishments offering junior-high level education to adults, with 154,600 students, 2,740 teaching and administrative faculty members including 2,179 teaching faculty members.

The number of illiterate adults was reduced by 210,100. In 2018, 229,100 people attended literacy programs. In these literacy programs, there were 12,600 teaching and administrative faculty members and 6,363 teaching faculty members.

VII. Non-state education

In 2018, the Ministry of Education revised the Regulations on the Implementation of the Non-state Education Promotion Law, which was considered and approved on the executive meetings of State Council on January 2, 2019. The Ministry of Education has enhanced supervision on the implementation of relevant policies across the country, to promote a steady, diversified development of non-state schools. The number of students attending private-run schools at all levels of education continued to increase and take up a greater share of all students, and the teaching quality has improved.

In 2018, there were a total of 183,500 non-state schools in China, an increase of 5,815 over the previous year, accounting for 35.4% of educational institutions across the country. The number of newly enrolled students in 2018 was 17.7975 million, an increase of 578,900 or 3.4% over the previous year. The number of students attending non-state schools was 53.7821 million, an increase of 2.5774 million or 5.0% over the previous year, accounting for 19.5% of the total number of registered students and marking a slight increase of 0.6 percentage points. More details are given below:

There were 165,800 non-state kindergartens, an increase of 5,407 over the previous year. The number of newly enrolled children was 9.9726 million, a decrease of 20,600 or 0.2% over the previous year. The number of children attending non-state kindergartens was 26.3978 million, an increase of 674,400 or 2.6% over the previous year, accounting for 56.7% of the total number of children attending kindergarten, marking an increase of 0.8 percentage points over the previous year.

There were 6,179 non-state primary schools, an increase of 72 over the previous year. The number of newly enrolled students was 1.5531 million, an increase of 176,100 or 12.8% over the previous year. There were a total of 8.8457 million non-state primary school students, marking an increase of 704,000 or 8.6% over the previous year, and accounting for 8.6% of all primary school students, an increase of 0.5 percentage points over the previous year.

There were 5,462 non-state junior high schools, marking an increase of 185 over the previous year. The number of newly enrolled students was 2.3047 million, an increase of 213,800 or 10.2% over the previous year. There was a total of 6.363 million non-state junior high school students, an increase of 586,200 or 10.2% over the previous year, accounting for 13.7% of all junior high middle school students, an increase of 0.7 percentage points over the previous year.

There were 3,216 non-state senior high schools, marking an increase of 214 over the previous year. The number of newly enrolled students of that year was 1.1695 million, an increase of 55,400 or 5.0% over the previous year. There was a total of 3.2827 million non-state senior high school students, an increase of 220,100 or 7.2% over the previous year, accounting for 13.8% of all senior high school students, an increase of 0.9 percentage points over the previous year.

There were 1,993 non-state secondary vocational schools, a decrease of 76 over the previous year. The number of newly enrolled students was 812,300, an increase of 25,500 or 3.2% over the previous year. The total number of non-state secondary vocational school students was 2.097 million, an increase of 123,700 or 6.3% over the previous year, accounting for 17.3% of all secondary vocational school students, an increase of 1.5 percentage points over the previous year.

In 2017, there were 750 non-state colleges/universities (including 265 independent colleges and 1 college for adults), marking an increase of 3 over the previous year. The number of newly enrolled undergraduate student was 1.8394 million, an increase of 85,700 or 4.9% over the previous year. The total number of non-state college/university students was 6.496 million, an increase of 211,400 or 3.4% over the previous year, accounting for 22.9% of all undergraduate students in colleges/universities and higher vocational schools, and marking a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points. The number of newly enrolled postgraduate students was 735, and the total number of postgraduate students was 1,490.

Notes: The statistics herein is exclusive of data on Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan Province. All numbers are rounded and therefore the sums of figures for sub items may be not equal to the original sums.

[1] Exclusive of after-school training agencies.

[2] For HEIs and secondary vocational schools, self-owned properties and rented properties are included in the data; the same indicators on equipment and instruments are used; secondary vocational schools are exclusive of technical schools; same below.

[3] Urban refers to cities; rural means townships and villages; same below.

[4] Children of migrant workers refer to school-age children who left their home villages to live with their parents and receive compulsory education in a city of which they are not registered residents.

[5] Including both public and private run kindergartens.

[6] Including children receiving general preschool education in both public and private run kindergartens.

[7] Including regular senior high schools, senior high schools for adults, and secondary vocational schools.

[8] Including ordinary secondary vocational schools, vocational high schools, polytechnic schools for adults and technical schools.

[9] Exclusive of technical schools. This applies throughout the report.

[10] The student-teacher ratio in regular HEIs is calculated on the basis of the lower total of student numbers, excluding data from college or university branches.

[11] The average number of registered students in regular HEIs includes undergraduate students registered in regular undergraduate programs only, while excluding data from college or university branches.