BEIJING -- China spent nearly 4.3 trillion yuan ($675.3 billion) on education in 2017, an increase of 9.43 percent from 2016, according to preliminary statistics released by the Ministry of Education Tuesday.

Spending on preschool education reached 325.5 billion yuan, up 16.11 percent from the previous year.

Investment in compulsory education totaled nearly 1.94 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.96 percent year on year. Children in China receive nine years of compulsory education.

Expenditure for high schools was 663.7 billion yuan, an increase of 7.82 percent from 2016, while the figure for higher education exceeded 1.1 trillion yuan, up 9.72 percent from the previous year.