A press conference on people's living standards was held in Beijing on Saturday during the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress.

The Minister of Education responded to media questions Huai Jinpeng, Minister for Human Resources and Social Security Wang Xiaoping, Minister for Civil Affairs Lu Zhiyuan, Minister for Culture and Tourism Sun Yeli and Chairman of the National Health Commission Lei Haichao. They discussed policy development and priorities in the areas of education, health, care for the elderly, culture, tourism and employment.

The largest quality education system in the world

Answering questions on improving public education services, Huai Jinpeng said that China has built the world's largest yet high-quality education system. The country now has 440,000 schools at various levels, 280 million students and 18.7 million teachers.

China has made significant progress in primary education. The gross enrolment rate in pre-primary education has risen to 92.9 per cent, 28.4 percentage points higher than before the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of China and well above the OECD average of 84.7 per cent.

For compulsory education, all 2,895 districts have achieved basic equivalence in education, with 572 districts already meeting the high quality standard at the end of last year. Secondary education also expanded significantly, with a gross enrolment rate of 92 per cent, seven percentage points higher than in 2012.

In the field of higher education, 55 million talents have been nurtured during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). The gross enrollment rate in higher education has more than doubled - from less than 30 percent before the 18th CPC Congress to more than 60 percent today.

Due to the growing demand for quality higher education, China has expanded the supply of quality undergraduate programmes. World-class universities project Double First-Class increased the number of students enrolled by 38,000. In the last five years, 18 new universities and 70 professional undergraduate institutions have been created, bringing 700 000 new places for study.

Expanding and improving care for the elderly

Minister Lu Zhiyuan said China has already preliminarily built a comprehensive elderly care service network covering both urban and rural areas. Nearly 80,000 places providing meal assistance to the elderly and 495,000 home care beds for the elderly have been set up in the country. At the same time, 2.24 million elderly households with special difficulties have been adapted or rebuilt to make them safer for the elderly.

In the next five years, China plans to build a three-tier elderly care network at the county, township and village levels. The plans include upgrading facilities for the elderly, strengthening the training of elderly care workers and developing technology for elderly care.

According to the Minister, the country will continue to refine policies to respond to the ageing population and support the expansion, improvement of the quality and efficiency of the elderly care sector. Services for the elderly with disabilities or cognitive impairments will also be strengthened, and visits and care will be organised for the elderly living alone or without family in villages and communities.

Artificial intelligence and new job opportunities

When asked about the labour market situation, Minister Wang Xiaoping said that Chinese authorities are actively looking for ways to use AI to create new jobs and strengthen traditional professions. At the same time, she unveiled a strategy to develop quality employment for 2026.

Employment potential will be intensively developed in sectors such as the digital economy, high-tech manufacturing and modern services. The Government will continue to pursue its „jobs first“ strategy, expanding job opportunities and supporting a record number of university graduates.

The Ministry plans coordinated action to maintain, expand and improve employment. These include greater support for labour-intensive sectors such as foreign trade, construction and hospitality to help stabilise existing jobs. At the same time, new job opportunities will be developed in the digital economy and advanced manufacturing.

Growing tourism

Answering a question on the development of culture and tourism, Minister Sun Yeli said that China's tourism sector is experiencing significant growth. Domestic travel and tourist spending reached record highs in 2025 and during the Spring Festival in February 2026.

During the nine-day Spring Festival from February 15 to 23, 596 million domestic trips were recorded, and tourist spending exceeded 800 billion yuan (approximately $115.93 billion). Both figures represent new records.

The so-called „experience economy“, the principle of which is to link culture and tourism, is also gaining importance. China wants to further promote deeper integration of culture and tourism and create new cultural brands that link performances, sporting events and travel.

At the same time, the number of foreign tourists coming to China has increased significantly. Their spending increased by 40 percent year-on-year in 2025. In addition, the country is expanding its unilateral visa-free policy, which now covers 50 countries.

Significant advances in healthcare

Lei Haichao presented data on the development of health care and quality population development in China.

In 2025, primary health care visits accounted for 52.6 percent of all health care visits in the country. These facilities have seen growth in both the number of patients and their share of total health services.

More than 90 percent of urban and rural families today have the nearest health facility within 15 minutes.

China now has 1.1 million healthcare facilities and more than 16 million healthcare workers. The number of general practitioners and their assistants has reached 5.29 million and the number of registered nurses has exceeded 6.03 million.

More than 33 million Chinese families with children under the age of three have received a childcare allowance. China provides an annual allowance of 3,600 yuan for each child born after 1 January 2022 until the child turns three, for a total of 1,0800 yuan per child.

The average life expectancy of China's population will reach 79.25 years in 2025, 1.32 years more than in 2020.

CMG