[Special Report] NPC & CPPCC Annual Sessions>>>

All students living in rural areas in China are now exempt from paying fees associated with their tuition over the course of their nine-year compulsory education.

Director-General Zhao Lu from the Finance Ministry's Department of Education, Science and Culture announced the new scheme at a press conference Tuesday.

The senior official said following this major fee exemption for rural students, future costs would be jointly shouldered by the central government and local governments, with different local governments responsible for different proportions of the cost. The official is confident the move will add a big boost in education programs in rural regions.

According to the plan, in western provinces and autonomous regions, the central government will pay 80 percent of the fees and their local governments will pay 20 percent. While in central provinces, the central government and local governments will share a 60 to 40 percent cost proportion.

In the eastern provinces, the central government will decide what proportion of the school fees it will pay according to the differing financial situations in different provinces. The municipalities of Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin, three most developed cities in the country, are not covered in the scheme.

Editor: Yan