A senior Chinese official has vowed to help poor college students to get financial aid when the new semester begins, amid social concerns over the problem, according to Xinhua News Agency report.

Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili made the pledge on Tuesday during her inspection tour of the China University of Agriculture and the China Renmin University in Beijing.

She said that the central government has always attached great importance to providing financial aid for poor college students, and has earmarked one billion Yuan, or about US$123 million, a year for grants to help the half a million students who are in financial need.

The official noted that more than 650,000 new students got study loans from June 2004 to June 2005 with a total amount of five billion Yuan, or about US$630 million, in aid.

Some colleges and universities have not made as much progress as expected; but more policies are to be implemented to address the problems, the official added.

She urged all relevant parties to continue their progress in providing financial assistance to poor college students when the new semester begins and to guarantee that new students are able to take up their places without any difficulties.

(CRI September 7, 2005)