BEIJING - China's educational authorities have vowed to improve transparency for recruiting graduate students, especially those recommended for admission, in order to safeguard fairness.

The Ministry of Education said in a circular on Wednesday that schools should ensure an open recruitment process by publicly stating selection criteria and publishing the lists of admitted students on their website for no less than 10 days for public scrutiny.

"Applicants whose names have not been made available to the public must not be admitted by schools," it said.

Any issues should be investigated and rectified and supervision should be stepped up on recruitment, said the circular.

Applicants for graduate programs in Chinese universities or academic institutes should attend national exams, or recommended by schools where they pursued bachelor's degrees for admission to graduate schools.

Cheating in exams should be prevented by ensuring smooth operation of the anti-cheating system including monitors and metal detectors, the circular urged.

Schools' autonomy should be further expanded in recruiting graduate students and professors' role should be given full play in selecting outstanding applicants, it added.