Some cadres find it pays to fake it when it come to getting that coveted PhD
Professor Wan's students wine and dine him and offer him the use of luxury suites in five-star hotels on his mainland travels.
He has tutored many senior officials studying for degrees for more than a decade and his students are keen to show their gratitude for his help in their pursuit of a master's or PhD in the popular part-time programme.
'My travel has been often arranged by my students who, as senior officials, can use public money to pay all of my expenses,' said Professor Wan, a law lecturer at one of the mainland's leading universities who asked that his full name not be used.
Higher degrees, particular those granted by top universities, are highly sought after by officials seeking promotion because the government has made education a key criterion for advancement.
Since then academic qualifications have become a saleable commodity, in legal and illegal ways, prompting the Communist Party leadership and its powerful Organisation Department and Central Discipline Inspection Commission to crack down on malpractice.