China's national education expenditure totaled nearly 5.8 trillion yuan (about 840 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up 9.13 from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Education. Spending within the national general public budget on education, a major part of government spending, totaled 3.75 trillion yuan, according to the ministry.

Government budget spending on education stood at 4.58 trillion yuan in 2021, accounting for 4.01 percent of the country's GDP. Since 2015, this figure has been downward for four consecutive years. Government expenditure on education was 4.22% of GDP in 2016, 4.14% in 2017, 4.11% in 2018 and 4.04% in 2019, respectively. It was shortly while up to 4.22% in 2020, but fell to 4.01% in 2021, close to the 4% red line, the lowest record since 2012.

If China's economic and fiscal recovery would not go on smoothly, there may reach out to red lines in more areas.