A former school official in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was arrested recently for supplying 52 teachers seeking promotion with fake certificates.

Zhao Bingduan, a former school official in the Daluo School in Binyang County, produced the phony certificates with others and earned more than 18,000 yuan (around 2,500 U.S. dollars) between 2002 to 2005, local police said.

The Binyang County teachers bought the fake certificates attesting their computer proficiency and Putonghua, or Mandarin Chinese, skills after failing earlier tests organized by local education authorities.

The price of the fake certificates ranged from 200 yuan to 600 yuan.

The certificates were required by teachers bidding for a promotion, according to local police.

The teachers' fake documents were confiscated. It was unknown if they would be punished.

(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2007)