Beijing:
Students trying to copy in examinations in China will face a jail term of up to seven years as the government has brought a new law making cheating a crime.
The new law, effective from November 1, will make cheating on major exams in China a crime punishable with a jail sentence.
Parents involved will also be seriously punished, according to the law.
The amended criminal law, which will take effect from November 1, stipulates that those who aid in cheating will be sentenced to three to seven years in prison and face penalties, state-run China Radio International reported.
The law also stipulates that people trying to impersonate during examinations will be detained by police.
In the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, 14 cases related to exam violations were found in the national college entrance exam last July, including nine cases of cheating.
Previously, college students involved in exam-related fraud were only punished by their universities, through warning, disqualification of their degree or dismissal.
Every year, China mobilises its security forces in a big way to prevent copying specially in the nationwide entrance test Gaokao in which nearly 10 million students took part last year.
The entrance determines the future of education and job opportunities of high school students.
Last year, public security departments across the country have pressed in drones and exposed cases of producing, selling and using telecom instruments used for copying.
The Ministry of Education last year warned that cheating students would be stripped of the enrollment qualification for a period ranging from one to three years.