(Yicai Global) Nov. 28 -- Half of the kindergartens in China will be publicly owned and run by 2020, an increase from just over 44 percent last year, according to the education ministry.

To meet the needs of all families, the number of affordable nurseries will increase to 30 percent of the total by 2020 from 26.5 percent last year, and expensive private kindergartens will account for 20 percent, Lu Yugang, director of the ministry's Department of Basic Education, said today.

Speaking in the northeastern city of Jinan, Lu said that a public preschool service providing broad coverage, basic support and quality would be established by then.

The government supports and encourages non-governmental institutions to invest in private kindergartens, and hopes that more people will enter the sector and provide high-quality nursery education, he added.

His comments come after the State Council, or cabinet, revealed in a policy document on Nov. 15 that private kindergartens are not allowed to sell shares to the public themselves or as part of asset packages, and listed companies are not allowed to invest in private kindergartens through share sales or cash injections.

About 85 percent of preschoolers aged between three and six will be enrolled in certified kindergartens by 2020, and children studying at affordable kindergartens will account for 80 percent of all preschoolers by that time, Lu said.

Editor: Bivash Mukherjee