About three quarters of prospective students in Chongqing taking the annual national college entrance exam this year gained admission, Chongqing Education Department announced on Thursday.

A total of 250,659 people have registered for the exam to vie for about 200,000 vacancies in universities and colleges. The admission rate is just over 84 percent.

The number of candidates from rural areas has increased this year, thanks to a set of encouraging government policies.

This year, universities each reserved an extra enrollment quota of 8,500 for rural students, the department said in a statement last week.