China's Ministry of Education has moved to strengthen the ethical and professional conduct of teachers over the past year, adopting a zero-tolerance approach toward ethical violations while protecting educators' legitimate rights, a senior education official said on Friday.

Yu Weiyue, head of the ministry's department of teacher education, said at a news conference that efforts have been made to establish a long-term mechanism for improving teachers' ethics and conduct, with measures to enhance routine supervision, assessment and accountability.

The ministry has also issued a handbook on professional behavior for front-line teachers and provided training programs for educational administrators and university officials to reinforce ethics building, Yu said.

In addition, the ministry has worked with other departments to guide local authorities and schools in establishing 10 key mechanisms covering areas such as ethical education, daily supervision, evaluation and rights protection.

Over the past year, the ministry has worked with public security departments to crack down on illegal acts that slander or stigmatize teachers, safeguarding their professional dignity, Yu added.