China has more than 70,000 private schools, with a total of 14.16 million students, according to latest figures from the Ministry of Education.

They include 175 colleges and universities, with an enrollment of 810,000 students; 1,104 other higher educational institutions with one million students; 1,377 secondary technical schools with 793,100 students; 2,679 senior middle schools with 1.41 million students; 3,651 junior middle schools with 2.57 million students; 5,676 primary schools with 2.75 million pupils; and 55,500 kindergartens, with 4.8 million children.

Private schools have been booming since a law concerning the promotion of private educational institutions was implemented a year ago. In 2004, the Chinese government plans to issue a series of preferential policies to further promote the development of private schools, said the ministry.
 
(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2004)