BEIJING -- About 300 million teachers and students are returning to school campuses across China, as the spring semester kicks off in a staggered manner in each provincial-level region.

The new school term is the first semester after China downgraded its management of COVID-19 from Class A to Class B on Jan 8. Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on Feb 6 urged efforts to optimize school management in accordance with the country's adjusted COVID-19 response and fully restore normality in school life.

On Monday, over 1 million primary and middle school students in Beijing returned to school.

In Beijing No. 13 Middle School, Qin Sheng, vice-president of the school, announced that the stage of the school opening will be used to hold a coming-of-age ceremony for the seniors in high school.

"The ceremony was originally planned for the last fall semester, but delayed due to the epidemic. We invited the students' parents to honor the ceremony," said Qin.

In the past three years, due to safety concerns in the country's fights against the epidemic, students were frequently restricted to their homes and educated through the schools' online guided study.