Society

Overseas Chinese paid for 27,642 schools on mainland

By Zhao Chunzhe (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-12-11 16:42

Overseas Chinese have helped pay for 27,642 primary and secondary schools on the Chinese mainland since 1979, and 25,229 of them – about 90 percent – are still in operation, chinanews.cn reported yesterday.

Another 2,413 schools have since been converted to other uses, such as homes for the elderly, kindergartens and local community clubs.

During the Sichuan earthquake, none of the 313 school buildings in the earthquake area paid by overseas Chinese collapsed.

"Most schools are in good conditions and are operated under the will of donators," said Du Zhibin, director of the Domestic Affairs Department of the State Council's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (SCOCA).

According to statistics provided by the SCOCA, overseas Chinese have donated more than 70 billion yuan ($10.2 billion) to mainland's public welfare since 1979.