Although Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu and Zhejiang outperformed all countries in the world and achieved the highest top scores in the Programme for International Student Assessment, and Chinese high school students won multiple gold medals every year consistently at many International Science Olympiad Competitions like the International Biology Olympiad, the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the International Olympiad in Informatics, the International Earth Science Olympiad, the International Mathematical Olympiad, the International Physics Olympiad and the International Chemistry Olympiad, China's educational system has been criticized for its rigorousness and its emphasis on test preparation. However, PISA spokesman Andreas Schleicher says that China has moved away from learning by rote. According to Schleicher, Russia performs well in rote-based assessments, but not in PISA, whereas China does well in both rote-based and broader assessments.