Education authorities are ready to roll out new anti-cheating measures this weekend as millions of nervous high-school students will sit the college entrance exam, or gaokao.
The test is considered a relatively fair way to screen and select higher education candidates.
However, the reputation of the examination, which usually takes place in June, has taken a battering in recent years over allegations of arranged cheating between some teachers and students.
After last year's test in central China's Hubei Province, more than 80 education officials, teachers, invigilators, pupils and parents received punishments, ranging from warnings to dismissals.
Authorities said they have ramped up efforts to ensure fairness this year.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education launched a campaign to crack down on concealed wireless devices used by cheats, improper exam-related content online and exam substitutes.
It also urged authorities to ensure exam sites were orderly, and to step up inspections on the printing, storage and transportation of exam papers.
"Officials should understand that it is their duty to ensure discipline and they will suffer the consequences should they be implicated in malpractice," it said.
Local government bodies have also issued guidelines promising stiff penalties for cheats.
More than 9.4 million people are expected to sit the test, and education authorities, public security officials and law enforcement officers have come up with some creative ways to make sure everything is fair.
In Luoyang, central China's Henan Province, the education authority will fly drones outside exam centers that can detect radio and electromagnetic signals so as to detect cheaters wearing earphones receiving radio messages.
"It can track suspicious signals and pinpoint the source of the signal," said Lan Zhigang, from Luoyang's radio management bureau.
Students in Henan will be barred from taking the exam for up to three years if they are caught cheating.
In Beijing, students will not be allowed to wear Internet-ready smart watches, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.
An official with the Beijing Education Examination Authority was quoted as saying that any students caught wearing smart devices will be regarded as cheating, and their test will be annulled.
"Only simple watches will be allowed," said Guo Hongwei.
Other electronic devices will also be treated in the same way, Guo said.
