Educational equity is an important foundation of social equity, and equal opportunity is essential to educational equity. The Chinese government has been paying great attention to equal schooling for students from impoverished families.

In 2013, the national student financial aid system in China was further enhanced with a new program to subsidize postgraduate students.

In 2013, a total of 118.5 billion yuan was spent on subsidizing preschool education, compulsory education, secondary vocational education, high school education and higher education, an increase of 5.9 billion yuan, or 5.25 percent, from 2012.