China’s education sector has taken a significant step forward in combating academic fraud with the nationwide implementation of an upgraded student information management system. Deployed on January 6, 2026, this comprehensive platform operates across five administrative levels—national, provincial, municipal, county/district, and individual schools—creating an integrated digital ecosystem for student data management.
The enhanced system directly addresses longstanding issues of duplicate student registrations and fabricated enrollment records that have plagued China’s education system. By integrating with the national population database, the platform employs advanced identity verification protocols that automatically detect and eliminate fraudulent registrations. This technological intervention comes amid growing public concern over cases where individuals obtained multiple school registrations or were enrolled without actual attendance.
The development follows high-profile scandals, including the case of actress Nashi from Inner Mongolia, who was found to have fabricated her college entrance exam application using a false identity from Hohhot No 8 Middle School despite never attending the institution. Such incidents have sparked widespread social media discourse and demands for improved oversight mechanisms.
Beyond fraud prevention, the revamped platform streamlines core educational processes including student enrollment, transfers, graduation procedures, and academic progression through unified online services. The system also enhances data application capabilities for broader educational management, enabling real-time attendance monitoring, precise subsidy allocation, and support for cross-sector initiatives such as family tax deductions and anti-trafficking efforts.
The Ministry of Education emphasizes that this upgrade represents a crucial component of China’s digital transformation in education, providing a more reliable foundation for policy implementation, resource distribution, and equitable service delivery across the nation’s educational institutions.