The Natural National Science Foundation of China (NSFC), China’s most important funding agency for academic research, received about 240,000 applications in the last fiscal year, of which nearly 42,000 (about 17%) were funded with a volume of 21 billion ¥ (~2.7 billion €). It should be borne in mind that this amount includes few human resources – students do receive negligible salaries in China.

http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/publish/portal0/tab434/info76257.htm