BEIJING — China spent 3.9 trillion yuan ($585 billion) on education in 2016, a 7.64-percent increase from 2015, said an announcement on Oct 25.

According to the announcement by the Ministry of Education, the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Finance, over 3.13 trillion yuan of the spending was fiscal expenditure, surpassing the 3-trillion mark for the first time, up 7.44 percent from the previous year, and accounting for 4.22 percent of GDP.

Also, 14.75 percent of China’s total public finance expenditure in 2016 was on education.