Project Hope, a Chinese program aiming at financing education for poverty-stricken students, has benefited more than 3.46 million rural students since its establishment in 1989.

China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF), one of the chief organizers of the project, said in a statement Thursday that domestic and overseas donations for the project surpassed 5.67 billion yuan (US$830 million) in 20 years.

The project was initiated by the CYDF and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China on October 30, 1989.

Nearly 16,000 primary schools have been built in rural areas through the project and 80 percent of them are in the country's western, central and northeastern regions, where economic development is relatively backward.

"Without the project, I could have been denied secondary education in high school. Project Hope changed my life," said Su Mingjuan, a beneficiary of the project.

The project also sought to improve educational environment in schools by contributing donations to build libraries, digital equipment, and sports and music facilities, according to the CYDF statement.

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2009)