BEIJING -- China has launched a nationwide campaign to crack down on illegal fundraising activities in universities as students returned to campus to start a new school year.

"Any people or organizations are banned from promoting illegal fundraising activities in any form on campus," said the Ministry of Education in a circular.

Higher education institutions are required to take measures to raise the faculty and student awareness of fundraising risks and develop rational concepts of financial management, said the circular.

Regular checks on activities will be conducted to prevent illegal fundraisers, including checks of flyers handed out on campus and the use of social media networks such as WeChat and Weibo to spread relative information, it added.

China has taken a harsh stance toward "illegal fundraising" -- a term used to describe taking deposits from the public by people without licenses to do so -- by mapping out regulations and strengthening supervision on financial markets since the 1990s.