China's phased free preschool education policy is expected to benefit around 12 million pupils in the upcoming autumn semester, reducing household expenditure by around 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion), a senior official said on Thursday.

Guo Tingting, vice-minister of finance, said the exemption of care and education fees applies to all children in the final year of kindergarten, regardless of urban or rural residence and whether they attend public or private institutions.

The amount waived is based on the government-approved standard fee for public kindergartens. Private kindergartens charging fees above local public kindergarten rates may still charge the difference, Guo said at a news conference held at the State Council Information Office.

For example, if standard public kindergarten care and education fees for certain regions are set at 500 yuan per month and a private kindergarten charges 800 yuan, the fee for children in their final year at public kindergartens would be zero for the autumn semester, while the fee for those at private kindergartens would be 300 yuan monthly, she added.

Calling it a milestone in preschool education, Guo said the policy has been made by the central authorities to address people's needs, safeguard and improve their livelihoods, promote long-term and balanced population development, ensure education equality and build a birth-friendly society.

The recently launched subsidies for families with children under 3 years old are expected to work with the free preschool education policy to reduce families' costs in childbearing, child-rearing and education, she said.

The central government and local government will cover the fee waiver together. The central government will cover 80 percent of the costs in western regions, 60 percent in central regions and 50 percent in eastern regions, with local governments paying the remainder.

Guo said the ministry will closely monitor the implementation of the policy. It will adjust the free preschool education policy with the Ministry of Education based on changes in kindergarten enrollment and government finances, so it can benefit more children, she added.

Xu Liuqing, director of the Ministry of Finance's Department of Science, Education and Culture, said that with less than a month until the start of the new semester, the ministry plans to allocate central funds for the policy in the coming days.

It will also work with the Education Ministry to guide local finance and education authorities to secure and allocate money for implementing the policy, ensuring it does not affect the normal operation of kindergartens, Xu said.

Guo said that government expenditure on preschool education has grown from 86.2 billion yuan in 2013 to 315 billion yuan in 2023, with the annual growth rate reaching 13.8 percent.

Liu Yuguang, director of the Ministry of Education's Department of Finance, said that in 2024, the gross enrollment rate of China's preschool education was 92 percent, reaching the average level of high-income countries.

The ministry will make more efforts to ensure the standardized operation of kindergartens and improve their overall quality, he said.

Yan Yao, the mother of a second-year kindergarten pupil in Changsha, Hunan province, said she is glad that her daughter can benefit from the policy.

Yin Guilin, whose daughter attends a public kindergarten in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, said she fully supports the new policy, as she pays around 1,500 yuan per month for her daughter's kindergarten fees.

Xi Zhimiao contributed to this story.

zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn