A police officer brought an 'electro-sword' to stand guard outside an exam center as Chinese students took the tests of their lives

• A police officer in China was seen bringing an "electro-sword" to stand guard at an exam center.
• The 3.6-foot baton emits an electric current and features a cross-guard to catch melee weapons.

A Chinese police officer turned heads on social media this week for wielding a giant electric baton designed like a sword.

The special forces officer was on duty outside an exam center in Luoyang as she explained the features of the baton — or the "electro-sword" as one Twitter blogger called it — to a camera.

"The strength of its electric current is between 270 and 350. It won't do too much harm to a person's body," said the officer, holding up the nearly four-foot baton. It's not clear what unit of measurement she was referring to.

A special cross-guard on the baton lets her defend against strikes from other melee weapons, she said in a video posted on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

Chinese police, usually SWAT teams or special units, have been carrying these batons for several years. One unit in Shenzhen, called the "peacekeeping special force," was issued the baton in 2016.

State media reported that the stick is made of titanium, and was designed to help officers fight against adversaries carrying long sticks, machetes, or pipes. The report did not say if the batons could emit an electric shock like the one filmed this year.

The swords are sometimes paired with small shields that cover only the arm of the officer, as seen in this post by the Xingan Public Security Bureau.

Some units are also equipped with two-handed maces, and long steel forks that supposedly are useful for disabling errant martial artists, per the Sina Military blog.

Special police units equipped with "electro-swords" have been deployed to some exam centers in China this week, as high school seniors across the country take the biggest standardized test of their schooling lives.

National anxiety over the two days of exams, which are called "Gao Kao," is so prevalent that some cities roll out police squadrons and organize volunteer fleets of cars to escort students and make sure things run smoothly.

One student with an ankle injury was even carried to his exam hall by a SWAT team.