In a significant move to enhance educational support, China has implemented policies to increase the standards and expand the coverage of government scholarships and grants, as announced by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
The adjustments, which began last year, aim to alleviate financial burdens for students across various levels of education. Some of these measures have already been put into effect.
Starting this spring semester, the average financial aid standard for high school students has been raised from 2,000 yuan (around 276.5 U.S. dollars)to 2,300 yuan (around 317.98 U.S. dollars) per student annually, with local authorities setting specific amounts between 1,200 (around 165.9 U.S. dollars) and 3,500 yuan (around 483.88 U.S. dollars) based on regional conditions.
Similarly, the average aid for secondary vocational school students has been increased from 2,000 yuan to 2,300 yuan annually.
Notably, rural third-year students from 11 formerly contiguous poverty-stricken areas, including the Liupan Mountain region, as well as Xizang, Tibetans-inhabited areas in four provinces, and four prefectures in southern Xinjiang, are now fully included in the national financial aid program.
Additionally, the government has raised the reward levels of government scholarships for undergraduate and vocational college students, and increased the number of scholarships available for both undergraduates and postgraduate students.
Starting in 2025, China will also increase the central government financial support standard for postgraduate academic scholarships in universities directly under the central government, raising the annual amount for master's students from 8,000 yuan (around 1,106.01 U.S. dollars) to 10,000 yuan (around 1,382.51 U.S. dollars) and for doctoral students from 10,000 yuan to 12,000 yuan (around 1,659.02 U.S. dollars).
China increases financial aid, scholarships for students
The United States military hit a civil factory in Yemen's Hodeidah city amid its fresh round of airstrikes on the Houthi-held Red Sea port city on Monday night.
The privately-owned iron and steel plant, located in the Salif district north of Hodeidah city, was targeted by 12 U.S. missiles.
Footage recorded by a China Media Group (CMG) correspondent showed that the roof of the factory completely collapsed after the airstrike, and broken bricks and tiles, as well as shrapnel from artillery shells, could be seen everywhere.
The factory had to stop production due to the damage to the equipment.
"The attack on this plant will leave 250 to 300 workers unemployed, with material losses estimated between 13 million to 14 million U.S. dollars," said Saleh Atifa, Houthi-appointed head of Hodeidah's industrial department.
The U.S. military claimed that they were targeting military facilities, but the steel plant was completely an independent civilian plant, according to the Houthis.
"The brutal hostility of the U.S. military targets civilian facilities and other key facilities. Like the steel plant you see here, it belongs neither to the state nor to the military, nor to the security department or the Houthis. It is an independent civilian factory," said Hodeidah governor Abdullah Atifi.
Over the past two days, dozens of Houthi-controlled military sites, as well as dozens of residential houses, have been targeted and bombed by U.S. fighter jets across the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, and several other northern and western provinces under Houthi control.
The tensions in the Red Sea are a visible manifestation of the spillover effects of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict centered on the Gaza Strip.
The renewed conflict in the Red Sea comes after Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza Strip on March 2, coinciding with the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
On Tuesday, the Houthi group announced that it would resume launching attacks against any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait until the crossings of the Gaza Strip are reopened and aid is allowed in.
US military hits civil steel plant in Hodeidah, Yemen
