Chinese students attending educational programs jointly run by Chinese and foreign institutes of higher learning will have to register online since this December, as required by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in a notice issued Sunday at its website.

The move is to further regulate and supervise the granting of diplomas of the Sino-foreign cooperative educational programs, the notice said.

In recent years, China has seen a surge of Sino-foreign educational programs, along with frequent frauds on diploma granting by some schools, such as running such programs without official permits, enrolling more students than allowed.

According to the notice, students taking Sino-foreign educational programs should first register at the official website designated by the MOE, namely, www.crs.jsj.edu.cn, in the first month of their study. Once they finish their study, they may check their diploma information online by inserting their names and identification card numbers.

"Diplomas of those students who do not complete the registration at the very beginning will not get final approval by the Ministry of Education," said the notice.