Zhjzw.nease.net -- whose name translates into "China's Certificate-Conferring Website" -- was shut down in June. It was one of eight websites to be closed down in the past year that allegedly offered unlicensed higher education courses and fake academic degrees, the Ministry of Education announced during a press conference Monday.

The website, registered in Beijing and Tianjin municipalities two years ago, advertised the awarding of academic degrees to students who enrolled and took online courses. The website published its address of remittance and account number.

About 17 percent of high school graduates attend colleges or universities in China. Those who do not meet the requirements often enroll in adult classes or Internet-based colleges.

Degrees are an important job-hunting tool. That's why unqualified online courses and fake certificates can be a big moneymaker, said Lin Huiqing, director of the Department for Students' Affairs of the Ministry of Education.

Some people are even willing to buy fake degrees because they think they can use them to find jobs.

One person, Sima Junle, was arrested in connection with the Zhjzw.nease.net scam, said the Ministry of Public Security's Yang Jialin.

Sima used the alias of Zhang Jianjun to open accounts at the Bank of Agriculture, the Bank of Construction, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank in Tianjin. He enrolled 70 students from Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai municipalities and Heilongjiang Province over the past year, earning 50,000 yuan (US$6,000)

The other seven websites that were shut down are www.chinagdxl.com, www.chsi.net.cn, www.chiedu.com, www.ohsl.com.cn, www.chsis.com, www.sinodxs.com, www.xuelichxun.com.

In Beijing, 49 suspects were arrested and 1,674 faked seals and 1,940 certificates were seized between August 20 and September 10 last year, said Yang.

This June, public security departments in northwest China's Gansu Province arrested two suspects and confiscated 5,000 fake seals and 4,000 fake certificates of Peking and Tsinghua universities.

Yang said public security forces across the country will crack down on providers of fake academic degrees as well as those who distribute pornographic material on websites.

(China Daily July 20, 2004)