On November 3, Sohu newspaper reported that the organizing committee of the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition 2024 officially confirmed that Jiang Ping - a female student considered a "math genius" - had cheated in the competition.
In July 2024, Jiang won 12th place in the preliminary round of the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition 2024, surpassing hundreds of competitors from prestigious universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, and Tsinghua University to reach the final round.
At that time, Jiang Ping's achievements received much praise from social media users in China. This success quickly made her famous in China and was called a "mathematical genius". Major universities such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tongji all posted congratulatory messages to her on Weibo.
However, many people doubted the female student's results, asking the question: How could a teacher and student of a vocational high school stand out in a competition with the participation of many experts?
In response to public suspicions, the organizing committee quickly launched an investigation. After a thorough examination, the final results showed that the list of winners in the final round of the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition 2024 (organized by Alibaba Group) did not include the names of Jiang Ping (17 years old) and his instructor Wang Runqiu.
The organizers discovered that teacher Wang had assisted his students in the preliminary round, violating the rule prohibiting discussion with others. After the incident, the organizers apologized and admitted that there were many limitations in the regulations and management.
"We will seriously listen to criticism, learn from experience and improve the regulations to make the contest more professional. We welcome the attention, support and supervision from all walks of life," said a representative of the organizing committee.
Jiang Ping is currently a Fashion Design major at Lianshui Vocational College (Jiangsu), a vocational school in rural China.
Jiang shared that she had a talent for mathematics since middle school, and when she entered high school, her mathematics achievements attracted the attention of teacher Wang Runqiu. Teacher Wang introduced many advanced mathematics materials and encouraged her to participate in competitions.
After Jiang Ping became famous, Mr. Wang also became known to many people and was considered a "teacher of geniuses". He was even nominated for the title of "outstanding teacher" of the school.
Following the cheating scandal, Lianshui Vocational College issued an urgent press release, admitting that the investigation showed that Mr. Wang had assisted his students in the preliminary round. The school decided to reprimand him and strip him of his title of “outstanding teacher” this year.
