URUMQI -- More than 207,000 students in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have registered for the national college entrance exam, or the gaokao, this year.

The figure in 2015 was 161,000, 166,000 in 2016 and increased to 184,000 last year.

The acceptance rates for college places have also risen steadily, the provincial education department said.

Xinjiang has policies for poor families and students living in poor, remote and rural areas this year, providing more quality resource.

The annual national college entrance examination takes place on Thursday and Friday. About 9.75 million students have registered this year, the most in eight years.