The China Association of Higher Education recently played host to a forum on plans for reform of the college entrance exam (or gaokao). The forum, held in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province on Dec 21, marked the 40th anniversary of the resumption of the gaokao this year.

Organized by Xi'an Jiaotong University, the forum summed up the evolution of the changes made to the examination and enrollment systems ranging from elementary education to higher education, and brainstormed ways to build a fairer mechanism to select talents and promote students' healthy development.

Lin Huiqing, vice-minister of education, attended the forum and gave a keynote speech to over 500 participants, including officials of education and examination institutes across the country, representatives from hundreds of renowned universities and high schools and 20 people who sat the first examination after university education was reinstalled in 1977.

A prelude to reform and opening up, the resumption of the gaokao was a turning point in many youngsters' destiny, bringing them to situations they could hardly have imagined at that time, said education ministry official Zhang Daliang.

The gross enrollment ratio of higher education reached 42.7 percent last year and the number is expected to rise to 50 percent by 2020, which means higher education in China will soon be a major part of the country's social fabric, Zhang added.

Zhang Maizeng, Party secretary of Xi'an Jiaotong University, looked back on the development of the school, saying that despite reforms made to its contents throughout the recent decades, the gaokao remains a scientific and fair approach to selecting the best possible candidates for higher education.