Central, western areas to get elite universities

Elite universities are to be established by the Ministry of Education in 14 central and western provinces that have never had a university directly under the ministry before, as part of the central government's pledge to bridge the widening education gap.

The 14 provinces include the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Chen Shun, assistant education minister, announced the decision at a news briefing on Friday.