China has continued waiving interest payments and granting extensions on government-subsidized student loans to ease the students' financial burden and employment pressure, according to the Ministry of Finance at a press briefing held on Friday.

Using a policy rolled out last year, China has so far waived 1.95 billion yuan (US$282.88 million) in interest, benefiting 3.79 million people. Repayments of student loan principal totaling around 590 million yuan have been deferred, benefiting 100,000 people.

This year, it is estimated that 2.33 billion yuan in interest will be waived, about 5.5 billion yuan of principal repayment can be deferred, and about 4 million college graduates will benefit from the policy.

Data shows that the number of college graduates this year is expected to reach a historical record of 11.58 million, an increase of 820,000 over last year.

Since China launched the subsidized student loan program in 1999, over 400 billion yuan have been issued to over 20 million students from households in need.

Over the years, the per-person limit of the loans has increased to 12,000 yuan per year for junior college and university students, and 16,000 yuan per year for postgraduate students.