Some even use doctored photographs to advertise their qualifications: one image online shows a group of students said to be from the non-existent Wuhan University of Industry and Commerce standing in Tiananmen Square the original photograph shows the same group under a banner proclaiming who they really are: students from the Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology.

ECONOMIST: Fake degrees

Last year, a self-driving car developed by China's National University of Defense Technology traveled 177 miles from Changsha to Wuhan.

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Foreign firms should establish long-term interaction with leading Chinese faculty at Chinese universities, from top-rated Beijing University to Tsinghua to Fudan (in Shanghai) to other colleges in Tianjin, Dalian, Nanjing, Wuhan, Xiamen and Guangdong.

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