Most provincial-level regions in China will increase the weighting of physical education in the high school entrance exam, or zhongkao, starting next year, the Ministry of Education said on Monday.

Wang Dengfeng, director of the ministry's department of physical, health and arts education, said PE tests are currently mandatory in the zhongkao in all provincial-level regions, with scores ranging from 30 to 100 points.

Based on recent reports the ministry received from local education authorities, most regions plan to significantly increase PE scores in the zhongkao next year, which marks an important development in reforming the evaluation of school physical education, he said.

In October, the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council issued a guideline on strengthening and improving physical education in schools.

The guideline asked education authorities to gradually increase PE scores in the zhongkao and improve the content and method of testing.

In late October, Yunnan province increased the zhongkao scores for PE from 50 to 100 points, starting from the fall semester this year, the provincial education department said.

It was the first provincial-level region to give PE and the three major subjects — Chinese language, mathematics and English — equal importance in the zhongkao.

The tests are conducted in every semester of middle school and are not intended to differentiate students, the education department said.

The department does not encourage students to take after-school cram courses for PE. If they take PE courses seriously, exercise regularly and actively participate in sports competitions, they will achieve high scores in PE, it said.

Last month, the education bureau in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, also decided to increase the weight of PE in the zhongkao by raising the scores from 60 points to 70 points, starting from next year.

China's traditional idea of schooling puts more emphasis on academic education than physical education, and schools often treat PE as less important by not offering enough PE courses. It is also common for teachers in major subjects, such as Chinese language, mathematics and English, to use class time set aside for PE for their own subjects.