Students in Huizhou, South China's Guangdong Province try to cheer up their peers who are going to take the gaokao. Photo: VCG

Chinese netizens hailed the greetings to encourage students taking gaokao - the college entrance exam - from foreign embassies and consulates in China, noting that their warm moves are great gifts for the candidates and will enhance friendship between China and their countries, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic situation worldwide.

More than 10 million students in China took the most competitive and toughest exam in their lives on Wednesday, the first day of gaokao, and the coronavirus outbreak has made the one-shot life-changing test even more challenging for them.

Embassies and consulates of Serbia, Iran, UAE, Finland, Iceland and the UK in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Wuhan all sent their best wishes via Sina Weibo to the students taking gaokao.

Serbian Ambassador to China Milan Bacevic hand-wrote a letter to the students saying that "to you who are ready to acquire new knowledge, skills and ideas to live in the future, I wish you success in taking this step to realize the future that you, your country and society want."

"Let gaokao be an opportunity to make you work hard, realize your dream and go further," it said.

The Iranian Embassy in Beijing said on Weibo that "the great significance of gaokao to Chinese students, Chinese families and even Chinese society cannot be ignored by anyone who wants to know China." 

"The resumption of gaokao in 1977 was the forerunner of China's reform and opening-up, and also a turning point for countless Chinese people," it said. 

The embassy noted that the students in Iran also feel the difficulty of preparing for their college entrance examination, which has been postponed to August due to the pandemic, and added that they wish all the best to both the Chinese and Iranian examinees.

Finnish Ambassador to China Jarno Syrjala and Iceland's Ambassador to China Gunnar Gunnarsson each shared a video on Weibo, stating that they wish the Chinese students good luck and success in gaokao.

Liberty Timewell, deputy consul general of the British Consulate-General in Guangzhou, also posted a video of her saying in Chinese on Weibo that she used to be a teacher at Beijing 101 Middle School and knows that Chinese students work very hard. 

She said "a wonderful future is waiting for you" to all the students.

UAE Ambassador Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri, Deputy Consul General of the British Consulate-General in Shanghai Chris Wood, Deputy Consul General of the British Consulate-General in Chongqing Cecille Elbeleidi, and Deputy Consul General of the British Consulate-General in Wuhan Gareth Hoar posted pictures of themselves holding a white paper reading "gaokao jiayou [good luck with gaokao]" on Sina Weibo to show their encouragement.

Their warm moves touched a lot of Chinese internet users, with many of them showing their gratitude and saying that their greetings are great gifts to the Chinese students who are taking gaokao.

"This means a lot me as I want to be a diplomat like them in the future," one netizen commented. "I hope their support can help me to success so I can realize my dream."

"This is really touching, especially for us who are taking gaokao during the pandemic. Although we might have different perspectives on politics, their friendly gestures will shorten the gap of misunderstanding and enhance friendship between China and those countries," said another.