Peking University recently initiated a new program for enrolling new students.

Moving away from relying on results of the National College Entrance Exam, or gaokao, China's premier university now accepts students on the basis of a letter of recommendation from a student's former school and a face-to-face interview.

However, an opinion piece in the Global Times newspaper questions the new system.

The article cites a case in 1977 when a boy called Wang Xiaoping from Shanxi Province was admitted to Peking University purely because of recommendation letters, which, it was revealed later his father had obtained through family connections. Wang was eventually kicked out of the university after the case was uncovered in the media.

The article suggests Peking University's new system may be abused by applicants with strong connections.

Although there are some drawbacks with the gaokao system, this does provide all the students with a relatively level playing field. Considering the current condition of the country this might be the most feasible system of selecting talent at the moment.