BEIJING, June 8 -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong on Sunday urged education authorities to ensure fairness of the national college entrance exam.

Educational personnel must strengthen the safety management, maintain a sound exam order and be ready for any emergency to guarantee that all exams go ahead, Liu said while inspecting the command center for the exam.

The exam is scheduled from June 7 to 8, and might extend to June 9 in some regions.

Nearly 9.4 million candidates are sitting the exam nationwide, and about 6.98 million students, or three quarters of the candidates, are expected to gain college admission, according to the Ministry of Education.

The vice premier asked education personnel to be as careful as they can when going over the test papers and giving marks and conduct a second review to avoid mistakes.

She also warned that education authorities and schools must be thoroughly transparent in the recruitment process after the exam, and any violations will be seriously punished.