Over 100 million Chinese are receiving training or further education through special television channels, the Chinese Ministry of Education said on December 9.

Officials from the ministry said China has established the largest transmission network for educational television programs in the world during the past 13 years, when the country's first satellite educational television channel began broadcasting.

There are now more than 100 educational television channels operating at both the national and regional levels across China.

Viewers include farmers who are learning new practical farming skills, primary and middle school teachers seeking formal diplomas through further professional education, and the general public who wish to obtain some higher education in their spare time.

Major education channels include China Education Television which offers service nationwide, and 14 regional and provincial channels in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Shanghai, and the provinces of Liaoning, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Hunan.