BEIJING - China has allocated one billion yuan ($158.7 million) from its central budget to award 45,000 outstanding graduate students for the 2012-2013 academic year, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday.

Scholarships will be granted to 10,000 doctoral students and 35,000 postgraduates studying for their master's degrees, the ministry said in an online statement.

The selected postgraduates will each receive 20,000 yuan, while award-winning doctoral students will each receive 30,000 yuan, the statement said.

The scholarships will be awarded on the basis of moral quality, academic merit and research capacity, according to a previous statement by the ministry.