Recently, two departments including the Ministry of Education have promulgated the Circular on Issuing the Administrative Measures for Diplomas and Degree-awarding Information (the "Circular"), deciding that, as of January 1, 2016, the diplomas awarded to persons obtaining doctor's degree, master's degree and bachelor's degree shall be designed and printed by degree-awarding entities on their own, and the diplomas printed by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council shall no longer be used.
The Circular sets forth the requirements for contents that shall be included in diplomas, and defines that the numbering method of 16 digits shall be adopted for diploma numbers in a unified manner. For degrees revoked, degree-awarding entities shall make a public announcement, stating the cancellation of diplomas; if a diploma is lost or damaged, upon the application made by the holder by himself, the degree-awarding entity may issue a corresponding "degree certificate" after verification. The degree certificate shall indicate the original diploma number and other contents, and have the same effect as the diploma.