The Ministry of Education recognized 293 cities, counties and districts in China as places with balanced compulsory education development at a news conference on Friday.

The gap in facilities and resources of schools in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and Chengdu, Sichuan province is narrow enough to meet the national standard, the ministry said.

In recognizing the success, the ministry was taking an important step to promote education equality, said He Xiuchao, the ministry's director of supervision and the guidance office.

He said 325 cities, counties and districts were appraised for their development of compulsory education during 2012 and 2013, and the 293 all met the national standard for balance.

The ministry will continue to increase investment in education, improving th quality of teachers and narrowing the gap between schools nationwide, He said.

“We hope we can finish the appraisal of all 2,800 counties across the country as soon as possible, and see balance in all elementary and middle schools in China by 2020,” he said.