A senior Chinese official has vowed to help poor college students to get financial aid when the new semester begins, amid social concerns over the problem, according to Xinhua News Agency report.

Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili made the pledge on Tuesday during her inspection tour of the China University of Agriculture and the China Renmin University in Beijing.

She said that the central government has always attached great importance to providing financial aid for poor college students, and has earmarked one billion Yuan, or about 123 million US dollars, a year for grants to help the half a million students who are in financial need.