(Yicai) Dec. 26 -- Chinese government fiscal authorities at all levels allocated CNY3.78 trillion (USD539 billion) from the general public budget to higher education from 2021 to 2024, with local governments providing the bulk of the funding, according to a new report.

Of the nearly CNY4 trillion invested, local governments allocated CNY2.76 trillion (USD393.8 billion), shouldering roughly 73 percent of the cost, according to the “Report of the State Council on the Allocation and Use of Fiscal Funds for Higher Education” recently published on the website of the National People’s Congress. The central government contributed CNY1.02 trillion (USD142.7 billion).

Spending on higher education accounted for approximately 3.6 percent of China’s total general public budget expenditure of CNY106.6 trillion (USD15.2 trillion) over the period, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

Backed by fiscal funds, China has built the world’s largest higher education system and has entered what is widely recognized as the mass enrollment stage, the report said. The gross enrollment ratio in higher education jumped 6.4 percentage points in 2024 from 2020 to 60.8 percent. There are now more than 240 million people holding a college-level degree.

However, in recent years, factors such as the economic downturn, a sluggish property market as well as tax and fee cuts have weighed on revenue growth. At the same time, education spending has continued to rise steadily, increasing the imbalance between fiscal revenue and expenditure. Ensuring sustainable funding for higher education has therefore become a key challenge.

Looking ahead, higher education will continue to be mainly funded by local governments, but the central government will also step up its support. Tools such as central budgetary investment and ultra-long special treasury bonds will be used to finance college and university infrastructure projects.

The government will also work to expand the supply of high-quality higher education, gradually increasing enrollment in top undergraduate programs, scaling up postgraduate education and steadily increasing the share of doctoral students.

Editor: Kim Taylor