Education Minister Huai Jinpeng, speaking during a gaokao-related inspection tour in Beijing on Tuesday, said that this year's exam is taking place in special circumstances, and education departments at all levels should try their best to organize it and prevent the epidemic from resurging during the exam.

"Thoughtful and warmhearted services should be provided to examinees, especially to those in need and having difficulties," he said.

In Ya'an, Sichuan province, which was hit by 6.1 and 4.5-magnitude earthquakes on June 1, about 420 examinees from the hard-hit Baoxing county were transported to nearby Tianquan county and took the exam as scheduled on Tuesday.

Examinees in areas hit by torrential rain and floods in Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, also took the exam as scheduled on Tuesday.

In addition, eight visually impaired students nationwide got test papers in braille, and more than 10,000 disabled examinees got different forms of assistance, according to the National Education Examinations Authority.

The number of students registering to take the exam this year hit a record of 11.93 million nationwide, 1.15 million more than last year.