July 21 - The 2012 Western China Blue-paper revealed that of the 90 million children in those regions, over 20% are considered left-behind by their parents. Left-behind children are becoming an important social issue.

    The "2012 Report on Development of Western China" claims that there are 18.83 million left-behind children and over 20 million migrant children in Western China. The left-behind population accounts for 21% of the children population in the western parts of China, 3% higher than the national average, and 32% of the nation's left-behind population.

    Education is an increasingly alarming issue for both left-behind and migrant children in western China. Recently, western provinces have taken various measures to raise education level for these groups, leading to the opening up of more education opportunities for children in these provinces.