Beijing plans to add 20,000 primary and secondary school seats in 2025 to reduce the placement squeeze and ensure access to quality education for more students, according to Yin Yong, Beijing's mayor, who spoke during the third session of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress on Tuesday.

The new seats are a continuation of Beijing's efforts to promote the balanced and high-quality development of education, which saw the city add 39,000 primary and secondary school seats in 2024.

The increase in available seats helps ease the strain on school placements and offers parents and students more choices. The city's districts are rolling out initiatives to meet the seat requirement.

Dongcheng district plans to build the Beijing No 5 High School Dongshi Campus, which is expected to expand secondary school seats by 4,700.

Over 5,000 compulsory education seats will be added as Xicheng district implements a new educational model and puts additional educational resources into operation.

Dong Jian, secretary of the education working committee of Chaoyang district, outlined plans to establish five new or expanded schools, aiming to add 6,960 seats.

Haidian district, which took the lead last year in achieving full coverage of public primary and secondary school group-based schooling in the city, plans to expand the provision of quality educational resources, anticipating an increase of 7,900 primary and secondary school seats.