In the report on the recently held 19th National Congress of the CPC, education development is set as a priority. Currently, China’s public education sector is gaining momentum while its private education industry is flourishing.
During the past five years, the county’s annual expenditure on education has increased from RMB2 trillion to over RMB3 trillion, and it is approaching the RMB4 trillion mark. The tremendous progress in the PRC’s education industry has been evidenced by the latest statistics published by the Ministry of Education.
Development of the PRC education sector in the past five years
I. Leapfrog development in pre-school education
In 2016, there were 240,000 kindergartens in China, representing an increase of 59,000 or 32.6% from 2012. Kindergarten pupils reached 44.139 million, up by 7.281 million or 19.8%. Meanwhile, gross enrollment rate of 3-year preschool education has also grown by 12.9 percentage points to 77.4% within five years.
II. Further achievement in promoting nine-year compulsory education
A total of 140 million students are enrolled at 230,000 schools for compulsory education across the county. Net enrollment ratio of primary schools and junior middle schools is 99.9% and 104% respectively, which exceeds or approximates to the average of high-income countries.
III. Increasing popularity of higher education and significant enhancement of global competitiveness
With 90 new higher education institutions established after 2012, China has a total of 2880 higher education institutions, comprising 2596 schools that offer ordinary high school education. These institutions enroll 36.99 million students in aggregate, up 3.738 million or 11.2% from 2012. Taking up 20% of total higher education population in the world, the PRC has become the top country for tertiary education.
IV. Continuous growth of private education
Compared to 2012, the number of private schools of all levels and types increased by 31,000 or 22.2% to 171,000 in 2016, representing 33.4% of total number of schools in the country.
V. Extensive and in-depth exchange and cooperation on education
Leveraging its extending global influence on education, China has established cooperation with more than 180 countries and regions in education, making it the world’s third largest and Asia’s largest study abroad destination.
VI. Significant improvement in efforts to support economic and social development
During the past five years, 34 million students graduated from ordinary high schools and universities, and over 30 million students graduated from vocational schools, which supplied the manpower for the modernization of the country.
While China’s private education industry expands, professional education investors and operators thrive and flourish. Under such context, CFCG (1269.HK) extensively develops the complete industrial chain in the domestic and international education markets through introducing supreme education resources within and out of the country, thereby facilitating its connection to the capital market. As the 19th National Congress of the CPC proposed to prioritize education development, CFCG will remain dedicated and committed to the cause of education so as to grasp the unprecedented opportunity. By coordinating the integration and strategic planning of education resources from a higher level and global perspective, it will achieve the synergy between the education industry and capital market, with the aim of driving forward private education in China.
