Also invited to the CMO are past national training squad members who are still in high schools, and around 15 of the top contestants in the China Girls Mathematical Olympiad.
The examination is held on two consecutive mornings, and contestants have 4 hours and 30 minutes each day to work on the 3 problems.
The Chinese Mathematical Olympiad is graded in 3-point increments, so that each problem is worth 21 points, making the total score 126, triple that of the IMO.
In each phase of the training camp that lasts for about 8 to 9 days, two team selection tests, each of the same format as the IMO, are conducted.
[8][9] Members of the national training squad have guaranteed admission to any universities in China without sitting the Gaokao examination.
At the 50th anniversary meeting of the society in December 1985, it was decided that a competition was to be held in January 1986 to select students to the IMO.
[10] Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in early 2020, the training camp was not held and the Chinese team for the 2020 IMO was selected based on the scores of the 2019 CMO.
[11] The 2022 CMO was moved to a virtual event following the surge of COVID-19 epidemic in mainland China near the end of 2022, with contestants competing in the exam centers of their own provinces.