China announces phased implementation of free preschool education

Children take part in a waste-sorting simulation at a kindergarten in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, on June 3, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Starting from the autumn semester of 2025, China will waive the care and education fees for children in public kindergartens in the year prior to entering primary school, according to a guideline made public by the State Council on Tuesday.

The move aims to effectively lower education costs and improve the country's public education services, according to the document issued by the General Office of the State Council.

For children enrolled in private kindergartens, their care and education fees will also be reduced in accordance with the amount exempted at local public kindergartens, according to the document.

Meanwhile, fiscal departments will provide subsidies to kindergartens to address their loss of income due to the policy.

The guideline also encourages local authorities to further consolidate supportive policies in line with local conditions for groups such as children from financially disadvantaged families, orphans, and children with disabilities.

Fiscal and education authorities at all levels should enhance fund management and allocate funds promptly and in full to ensure the normal operation of kindergartens, according to the document.

China will make improvements to the free preschool education policy at an appropriate time, considering factors such as changes in the school-age population, the guideline said.

"The phased introduction of free preschool education is not only an important step to respond proactively to public concerns and reduce the costs of child care and education for families, but also an essential task in advancing the country's high-quality education system," said Hong Xiumin, head of the Institute of Early Childhood Education at Beijing Normal University.

Gao Bingcheng, an associate researcher at the China National Academy of Educational Sciences, noted that the move will contribute to the promotion of educational equity as well as the reduction of preschool education expenses and the overall cost of raising children for eligible families.

In March, the country's annual government work report outlined groundbreaking efforts to "promote free preschool education in a phased way."

These efforts were put forward among China's broader work to ease the burden Chinese families face in raising and nurturing children amid the country's mounting demographic challenges.

As one of the world's most populous countries, China is facing a dual demographic challenge: a shrinking number of newborns and a rapidly aging population.

In response, the country has been steadily loosening its family planning policies over the past decade and taken concrete steps to construct a birth-friendly society with improved hospitals, child education and care institutions and workplaces, and with appropriate financial and policy support for families with children.

Last week, China introduced a nationwide child care subsidy program slated to begin in 2025, which will provide families with an annual subsidy of 3,600 yuan for each child under the age of 3.

These subsidies will be exempt from individual income tax and will not be counted as household or individual income in the determination of eligibility for welfare assistance, such as subsistence allowances or allowances for people living in extreme difficulty.

The policy is expected to benefit more than 20 million families each year.