All 7,000 of Beijing's traffic police officers were deployed around the city Thursday to keep the roads quiet during the annual national college entrance exam (NCEE), the largest of their kind in the world.

The officers are ready to offer immediate assistance to students and their parents, said a spokesman from the command center of the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau under the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

"Although the number of vehicles in Beijing has reached 5.09 million, traffic on the first day of the exam was much better than that of past years, as many people chose to leave their homes earlier than usual and skip rush hour," the spokesman said.

Police escorted 18 students who were almost late for the exam to their exam venues on Thursday, he said.

The Beijing summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was held Wednesday and Thursday, overlapped with the start of the examination period, resulting in extra traffic cops being deployed to ensure safe and smooth traffic.

Approximately 9.15 million people will take the exams to vie for 6.85 million spots at the country's universities and colleges. About three out of four applicants will be admitted by universities.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2012)