China's national college entrance exam, also known as the gaokao, began Tuesday amid the waning COVID-19 epidemic. The exam, deemed one of the most important events for Chinese students, is also the largest organized event held in the country since the outbreak of COVID-19. A total of 10.71 million students are sitting this year's exam in China starting July 7, an increase of 400,000 over last year, according to the Ministry of Education.
