Later, in 1997, the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party decided that the national development strategy would be based on science and education. In 2004, the State Council issued The Action Plan for Invigorating Education 2003 to 2007, which placed education as the top strategic priority for the development of a modern China. According to the National Statistics Bureau of China (2012), the Chinese government has substantially increased the level of investment in education since 2006 (from 5,161 billion Yuan (2.82 per cent of GDP) in 2005 to 20,772 (4 per cent of GDP) billion Yuan in 2012). More recently, in 2010, the Ministry of Education enacted the Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020), which was aimed at transforming China into a leading knowledge- and technology-based country.