That’s how much China has invested in higher education over the past four years.
🌏 World’s largest lecture-hall nation: The tertiary enrollment rate has risen to 60.8%, and more than 240 million people now hold a college degree. Around 73% of the funding came from local governments.
🎓 More elite tracks, more PhDs: Funding is going into elite undergraduate programs, expanded master’s and PhD intake, and upgraded campuses and research infrastructure—partly financed via special government bonds.
Watch: Roughly 3.6% of China's total public budget (USD 15.2 trillion) flowed into higher education. But youth unemployment remains critically high—so severe that authorities stopped publishing standard statistics in 2023. The graduate jobs crisis suggests a growing mismatch between educational output and economic opportunity.
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