China's state loan system has assisted 2.3 million college students from poor families by issuing 19.09 billion yuan (about US$2.39 billion) in interest-free loans since 1999, Chinese Ministry of Education said on Tuesday.

Since June 2004, the Chinese government has granted interest-free loans to 1.441 million college students by issuing around 1.211 billion yuan (US$151 million), the ministry said.

China introduced a pilot state education loan system in 1999 in eight major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, etc. The system was extended to the rest of the country in 2004.

By April 2006, 15.4 percent of the students studying in colleges and universities sponsored by the central government departments had received loans, according to Yuan Guiren, vice minister of education, at a signing ceremony between the Bank of China and the ministry on the loan management for the next five years.

In China, families have to pay at least 8,000 yuan (US$975.6) every year for their child's college education, which means farmers have to shell out years of income.

Statistics from the ministry show China now has 15.62 million college students, of which three million come from poor families.

A new policy dubbed as "Green Channel" will be put into practice to ensure that every poor student can go to school, the ministry said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2006)