BEIJING -- The quality of education in China is on a par with, or even exceeds, many medium-high income countries, Minister of Education Yuan Guiren said Thursday.

A third-party institution had assessed China's advancements in education since the implementation of a medium to long-term education development plan five years ago, the minister told a press conference on the sidelines of the parliamentary annual session.

Kindergarten enrollment rate was 75 percent, the average level of a medium-high income country, he said.

The net enrollment rate of primary schools and the gross enrollment rate of junior high schools were 99.9 percent and 104 percent, he said.

The attendance rate for nine-year compulsory education surpassed the average level of high-income countries, said the minister.

The gross enrollment rates of senior high schools and higher education were 87 percent and 40 percent, both above medium-high income countries, Yuan said.

China has a free nine-year compulsory education system, which includes primary and junior-high schooling, but this has been extended to include kindergartens and senior high schools in many regions of the country.