The eol.cn report, citing population authorities, said 25 million people were born in China in 1990, leading to a peak in the number of gaokao takers in 2008.

After 1990, the number of newborns fell — reflected from 2009 to 2013, when gaokao takers declined for five consecutive years. The fall in numbers ended in 2014 and they have stabilized at about 9.4 million since then.

However, an increasing number of Chinese students are heading overseas to study. Last year, more than 520,000 Chinese went abroad to study — the largest number ever.

Chen believes that under such circumstances, the student recruitment issue facing some colleges and universities will continue.

Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said one solution is to cultivate the characteristics and strengths of these educational institutions.