According to the ninth amendment to the Criminal Law that took effect on Nov 1, cheating in national examinations, such as the national college entrance examination and national postgraduate entrance examination, is criminal behavior, which can result in a sentence of up to seven years imprisonment if it is a serious violation.

The specific activities of cheating in exam defined in the amendment include organizing cheating, providing equipment or help for cheating, illegally selling exam questions and answers and taking tests for somebody else.

The national postgraduate entrance examination this year is the first national postgraduate entrance examination since the amendment went into effect, and it has been hailed as "the strictest postgraduate entrance examination ever".

However, on Sunday evening, at the end of the national postgraduate entrance examination, the official micro blog of the news office of the Ministry of Education issued a statement, saying the ministry has received reports that some examinees had received answers to parts of the questions. The education authority has already reported the matter to the police for investigation.

The ministry said that cheating in national exams is a criminal offense that seriously disrupts exam order and undermines the fairness of education. The education authority will cooperate with the public security authorities to strictly crack down on such crimes.

(China Daily 12/30/2015 page8)