China's central government has expenditure of 3 billion yuan (US$375 million) for the building or renovation of 2,810 rural boarding schools, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has announced on its website.

The expenditure is part of a three-year program beginning in 2004 to build or renovate 7,662 rural boarding schools in a bid to improve educational facilities in the countryside.

Total funding for the program amounts to 9 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion).

Spreading across 953 counties in central and western China, the boarding schools will be able accommodate 2 million students when they are completed.

By the end of April, more than half of the 4,852 schools for which fund had been allocated in 2004 and 2005 had been completed, the NDRC said.

The 3 billion yuan slated for 2006 comes in two parts. Half comes from the central budget, while the other half is raised through treasury bonds.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2006)