China's civil service exam sees fierce competition

(ECNS) -- China's civil servant exam, or guokao, is seeing fierce competition, as the most sough-after vacancy sees a competition ratio of 1,318:1, with another 1,024 people waiting for application qualification review as of Thursday, the third day after applications started.

The position was posted by northwest China's Qinghai Province, and the applicants are required to obtain associate college degrees or above.

The most-sought after positions over the years have some common characteristics, said Liu Youzhen, an expert from Huatu Education Research Institute.

Most of these positions have lower thresholds for application, such as unlimited professionalism, academic qualifications, grassroots working years. Also, some applicants don't take the exam seriously, just hoping to have a try, Liu said.

The country plans to recruit 37,100 civil servants to work for central agencies and institutions directly attached to them in the 2023 civil servant recruitment drive, according to the State Administration of Civil Service.

Applications will be accepted online from Oct. 25 to Nov. 3, with positions to be posted on authorized websites.