BEIJING — A total of 200 Chinese universities are expected to have high-caliber varsity football teams, according to a news conference held by the Ministry of Education on Feb 1.

Each of the 200 universities are required to have a male and a female team, said Wang Dengfeng, head of the ministry’s Department of Physical, Health and Arts Education.

The ministry will further boost its pilot program in selected counties and districts, where more than 60 percent of primary and middle schools will offer quality football education, said Wang. The program now involves 102 counties and districts.

According to previous figures by the ministry, at the end of 2017, some 20,218 primary and middle schools across the country had started offering football education to spearhead campus football development.

In 2015, the ministry together with five other departments issued a guideline to encourage football development.

By 2020, some 20,000 schools should have courses on football, and the number should reach 50,000 by 2025, said the guideline.