China will scale up investment to education in rural and less developed areas in the central and western regions going forward to ensure equal access to opportunities for children, Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday.

In remarks delivered at a video conference with foreign representatives to the China Development Forum 2021 in Beijing, Li said that the unequal distribution of high-quality education resources, especially between urban and rural areas and between eastern and western regions, remained a challenge for China.

"Equality in education is a matter that is related to equality and justice in society, among which the most important is the equity of opportunity. Equality in education is the most important factor in relation to the equity of opportunity," he said.

There are now 150 million students who are receiving nine years of compulsory education, and ensuring their access to compulsory education is the basic duty of the government, he said.

China will actively explore the use of new technologies, including Internet Plus education, to offer children in remote areas access to top-notch education resources and maximize the possibility for them to obtain a level playing field, he said.