BEIJING — The Chinese central government has allocated 25.71 billion yuan (about $3.68 billion) to boost vocational education this year, an increase of 8.4 percent from last year, the Ministry of Finance said.

The funds are meant to help local governments establish and improve the financial support mechanism for vocational education, and implement reforms in the area, the ministry said.

In the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), the central government has allocated 129.27 billion yuan to improve the quality of vocational education with annual growth rate averaging 9.8 percent, the ministry said.