Many things shrink in an economic crisis - the number of jobs, the volume of exports, the confidence of investors - but few expected a sharp fall in the size of the prospective student population.

This year, fewer students want to participate in the upcoming three-day annual college entrance exam, which has been seen as the make-or-break benchmark for millions of young people since 1977.

Minister of Education Zhou Ji had predicted that the overall number of applicants would exceed 10 million - last year's total was 10.5 million - but figures from local governments suggest the number of students taking part may be far fewer.