In the report he delivered to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Oct 18, General Secretary Xi Jinping said that strengthening education is fundamental to China's pursuit of national rejuvenation and the country must give priority to it.

In particular, Xi pointed out that rural areas need extra attention. This is a significant measure to deeply propel the balanced development of compulsory education and the fairness of basic education.

Xi's report pointed out that ensuring every child has fair access to good education is the development direction for China's education system.

This is not the first time the coordinated development of compulsory education in urban and rural areas has been mentioned. As early as July, 2016, the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a document on promoting the coordinated development of compulsory education at the county level.

Promoting the reform of coordinated development of urban and rural compulsory education is also a prerequisite for completing the poverty alleviation task.