Beijing: China plans to regulate the reference book market for primary and middle school students.

It will impose strict supervision on publication and distribution channels, the education ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry will strengthen regulations on editing, printing and distribution of such books, Education Minister Yuan Guiren said.

Yuan asked education departments at all levels not to force students or schools to purchase reference books. He also urged the schools not to force students to buy such books.

In China, it is common for students in primary and middle schools to attend after school tution classes to improve exam scores, which has resulted in a booming market for reference books.

Some publishing houses, book dealers and schools are blamed for seeking illegal kickbacks by forcing students to buy certain reference books.

China has spent about 23 billion yuan (nearly $4 billion) in 2010 and 2011 to improve boarding, lodging and library facilities of primary and middle schools in the rural areas to narrow the gap of education between rural and urban areas.

To prevent malnutrition in poor areas, the government appropriated over 16 billion yuan in 2011 to initiate a nutrition improvement program that provides a daily three-yuan subsidy to each student taking compulsory education. IANS