Chinese President Xi Jinping extended congratulations and greetings to teachers and educators nationwide at a national education conference on Tuesday, which marks the 35th Teachers' Day in China. 

There are about 16.74 million teachers in China, a 79-percent surge from the figure in 1985 when China designated September 10 as Teachers' Day, according to the Ministry of Education.

The quality of Chinese teachers has greatly improved over the past 35 years, with the proportion of teachers with bachelor's degrees or higher in primary and junior secondary schools increasing by 61.59 and 80.59 percentage points respectively, according to the ministry.

A total of 510,000 new graduates have been recruited to rural schools of compulsory education in central and western regions since 2012, and 250,000 teachers have been stationed in poverty-stricken areas, the ministry said. 

Chinese children are required to undergo nine years of compulsory education, which covers six years of primary school and three years of junior middle school.