Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Gradually Promoting Free Preschool Education" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"). On August 7th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the gradual implementation of the policy of free preschool education. In recent years, some places have explored the policy of exempting childcare and education fees based on actual conditions, accumulating a lot of experience and providing useful references for formulating unified national policies. Some places have implemented stronger and longer free policies. Regarding this, Vice Minister of Finance Guo Tingting pointed out that the "Opinions" clearly state that if the scope of the policy of exempting childcare and education fees implemented by each province exceeds one year before school, it can continue to be implemented, and the necessary funds for the excess will continue to be borne by the local government. This is conducive to local adaptation of policies. Regarding the follow-up policy considerations after the one-year exemption of preschool education fees, Guo Tingting revealed that from the actual situation, China's preschool education system is diverse and the situation is relatively complex, and the school-age population is in a rapidly changing stage. Therefore, after the implementation of the policy of exempting childcare and education fees, relevant departments will closely monitor the implementation of policies in various regions, strengthen work guidance, and ensure that good things are done well. At the same time, we will comprehensively consider factors such as changes in the preschool education age population and financial situation, and study the timely improvement of free policies to benefit more children. It is crucial to gradually implement free preschool education and ensure financial investment. Xu Liuqing, Director of the Department of Science, Education and Culture of the Ministry of Finance, introduced that regarding the sharing of financial subsidies for free childcare and education fees between the central and local governments, the "Opinions" clearly state that for the portion of kindergarten income reduced due to free childcare and education fees, the government will provide subsidies to the kindergarten, and the required funds will be jointly borne by the central and local governments. Among them, the central government distributes 80%, 60%, and 50% of the funds to the western, central, and eastern regions respectively. Next, the Ministry of Finance will work with the Ministry of Education to guide provincial finance and education departments to coordinate and arrange central subsidy funds and local funding, and timely and fully allocate financial subsidy funds to kindergartens. (New Society)