BEIJING — China has over 27,000 primary and middle schools featuring football education amid its continuous effort to develop football on campus, the Ministry of Education said Dec 20.

There are approximately 27 million students, 1,000 for each school on average, attending football classes at least once a week and participating in football training and competitions, said Wang Dengfeng, director of the department of physical health and arts education of the ministry, at a press conference.

Moreover, 181 institutions of higher education in China are now enrolling quality football players, said Wang, adding that nearly 2,000 students are annually enrolled based on their special talent in football.

The country has established a well-arranged campus football training system to cultivate talent. Competitions at primary and secondary school levels and even university level have been organized, with the champions qualified to play in national games. At the same time, training programs have been designed mostly online for school football teachers.

Over the past five years, 40,000 football fields have been built or renovated, with 20,000 more to follow by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), said Wang.

Starting from 2017, the country has been building county and district-based football training camps to train teachers and young talent.

Wang noted that sports activities and competitions are vital to students' healthy and all-round development, adding that more work is needed to raise awareness among the public and improve the system of institutions and governance, as well as infrastructure and proficiency of teachers.