“Education equality concerns social fairness and justice, in which the most important thing is to offer equal opportunities,” said Premier Li while meeting foreign representatives via video link during the China Development Forum (CDF) 2021 at the Great Hall of the People on March 22.

A foreign technological company’s manager asked Premier Li questions about education equality.

The Premier answered that education is the hope of every country, people and family. Since 1949, China has made great progress in education, especially after the reform and opening-up. China has about 150 million enrolled students in nine-year compulsory education. It is the basic responsibility of the government to ensure equal access to compulsory education. It is a demanding task for the government. However, quality education resources are still unevenly distributed in China, especially between urban and rural areas, and the eastern coastal areas and the central and western regions, according to the Premier.

One top priority of the government is to invest more in educational facilities in rural areas and the underdeveloped central and western areas, and ensuring that the average wage of compulsory education teachers is not lower than for local civil servants, said Premier Li. China is actively developing Internet Plus to offer students from remote areas quality education resources, in order to create a fair competitive environment. In short, no one will fall behind at the starting line, said the Premier.