China's top university under fire for using women to lure applicants

One of the top universities in China is facing criticism for using women to lure applicants into a sexually suggestive online advertisement.

Critics have pointed out that Nanjing University (NJU) is objectifying women.

The university posted the advertisement on Weibo on Monday, the first day of the gaokao exams, China's national college entrance tests.

According to South China Morning Post, the advertisement featured six photos of current students holding up signs in front of different parts of the campus.

Two of the photos attracted the most criticism. One included a pretty woman holding up a sign that read, "Do you want to live at the library with me, from morning till night?" and the other said, "Do you want me to become part of your youth?"

The other photos, especially when men held up the signs, did not feature the seemingly suggestive text.

For example, one man was pictured holding a sign that said, "Do you want to become an honest, diligent and ambitious NJU student?"

The ads became controversial online almost immediately.

"The problem with this photo is that it treats women as if they should be someone's belonging. These women made it to NJU, but now they are 'part of someone else's youth'? That is ridiculous," one comment said on Weibo.

Another wrote: "As a top university, you should recruit based on your resources and quality of your academics, instead of using hot guys and pretty women to lure people."

NJU deleted the ads after they receiving the criticism.