BEIJING - China will soon begin reform of professional rankings with more focus on contribution and ethical conduct to assist career development and to make the evaluation process more open and transparent.

According to a circular issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, the reform will begin in engineering, hygiene, agriculture, accounting, institutes of higher education, and scientific research within three years.

The new system will take shape in five years with an emphasis on scientific evaluation and standard management. Professional ranks will also be expanded to include new professions and industries.

The new method will focus on ethics and innovation, and there will be no universal requirements in regard to foreign language ability or computer skills.

The previous evaluation system did not meet the requirements of the times and some tests - notably the foreign language requirement - even created bottlenecks, said Cheng De'an, professor with Southwest University of Political Science and Law.

The reform concerns more than 55 million professionals in fields such as engineers, teaching, translation and accountancy.

Those found guilty of plagiarism in the evaluation process will be denied senior professional titles.

More sway will be given to ethics and social responsibility and less weight will be given to published work, Tang Tao, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, told Xinhua.

"Some lecturers in universities have paid undue attention to the number of academic papers they publish," said Cheng.

Those who work in important basic research, frontier technology or tackle important technical problems will be eligible for senior professional titles.

A more accessible evaluation process will be created for overseas talent.