Though China has been working hard on the development of education, the illiterate population in China had increased by 30 million between 2000 and 2005, to some 116 million (only smaller in number than India), taking up some 11.3 percent of the total illiterate population in the world.

It is widely believed that most illiterate persons in China live in the western part of the country. However, according to the survey in 2006, only 40 million of them lived there. In fact, in Shandong Province alone, there are 9.63 million illiterates.

Poverty should be blamed for high illiteracy rate in rural areas in western China, as many people there can hardly afford schooling, but things are different in the east, where the problem is even more serious. Many parents in the east send their children to work, without knowing that they are trading their children's future for a little money earned at present.

(Chinanews.cn April 12, 2007)