The Chinese Ministry of Finance has earmarked 1.43 billion yuan (184.5 million U.S. dollars) of special funds to help rural students get free textbooks for next spring, the ministry announced Thursday.

The money will be used for 34 million primary school and middle school students in 22 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and at Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Textbooks will be provided free for students from poor rural families.

Students from minority ethnic groups, each with a population of less than 100,000, will also benefit from the preferential policy.

The ministry ordered provincial governments and local education authorities to buy the textbooks. Money saved on government purchases should be also used to assist students from poor families.

The preferential policy will be expanded to cover all 148 million students in rural areas nationwide later this year, the ministry said.