WUHAN, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Zha Quanxing, a Chinese electrochemist known as "the first advocator of the national college entrance exam," or gaokao, died at 95 on Thursday in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province.
In August 1977, Deng Xiaoping, then vice-premier in charge of culture and education, held a meeting, during which Zha, an associate professor at Wuhan University, bombarded the disadvantages of the admission system of the time and suggested enrollment of college students through exams.
Deng decided to resume gaokao that year at the meeting.
To commemorate Zha's historic proposal that has changed the destiny of millions of Chinese, Wuhan University established the "Zha Quanxing 1977 Award" in 2017.
According to the university's information office, Zha fostered thousands of electrochemical talents over the past half-century, and the textbook he compiled based on his own teaching experience has become the most influential book in China's electrochemical community.
