2.3m students in rural Gansu get free lunch

Students eat lunch at Xiaolingxiang Center Primary School in Yongjing county, Gansu province, on Sept 19. A total of 2.31 million students from 58 poor counties have been receiving free meals every day since spring, as part of a new government initiative to improve nutrition for rural students. The 16 billion-yuan ($2.53 billion) program was initiated in autumn 2011 and covers 680 poor cities and counties in Northwest China, allowing 26 million students to receive free meals for the duration of their compulsory education, which is primary school to junior middle school in China. [Photo/Xinhua]