Chinese counties took 2 billion yuan from rural school meal subsidies to ‘settle local debt’

More than 100 counties involved in wrongdoing, State Council audit report tracking school meal subsidies for rural students finds

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Providing meals at school in poorer areas have been shown to improve not only nutrition levels but cognitive abilities, academic performance and class enrolment rates as well. China introduced its rural school meal plan in 2011. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:31pm, 30 Jun 2024Updated: 8:35pm, 30 Jun 2024

County officials across China misappropriated at least 2.2 billion yuan (US$302.7 million) in meal subsidies meant for rural students between 2021 and 2023, a State Council audit report found.

The money was mostly used to pay off local government debts, the report from China’s cabinet said. The document was made public last week during a meeting of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the country’s top legislative body.

The report tracked a total of 23.1 billion yuan in subsidy funds relating to 159 counties across 13 provinces.

More than 100 counties were involved in the wrongdoing, the report found.

In 66 counties, nearly 2 billion yuan in all were directly misappropriated to settle government debts and basic social insurance.

In 41 others, a total of 270 million yuan was siphoned off by lowering meal standards or fabricating purchases across 1,533 schools, the report said. Other counties colluded with suppliers, some of whom provided substandard material, for kickbacks or “donations”.

China introduced the meal plans in 2011 to improve nutrition standards for rural students, many of whom are “left-behind” children of migrant workers in urban areas.