Document 7.7 million candidates for 200,000 authorities jobs

A file variety of folks in China took the civil service examination this yr, as unemployment amongst younger folks soared.

Based on CNBC evaluation of state media stories, 7.7 million folks took the civil service examination within the 2023 software spherical, vying for greater than 200,000 authorities jobs on the nationwide and provincial degree.

Authorities jobs are usually considered secure and prestigious in China. GDP development has slowed from its fast tempo of the previous a long time.

The curiosity in authorities jobs comes as Xi Jinping final week cemented his place as China’s chief for an unprecedented third time period.

Xi sees unity below the ruling Chinese language Communist Get together as important for build up the nation. That is meant the occasion has and is about to extend its presence within the financial system, together with amongst companies that aren’t state-owned.

Learning “Xi thought” is a rising requirement for colleges in China.

For hundreds of thousands of people that need a authorities job, they need to take China’s civil service examination — which begins with questions on Xi’s report back to the occasion’s congress and Xi thought in a multiple-choice part.

Here is a pattern query, from Gongkaotong, which sells take a look at preparation questions for the civil service examination:

The written examination consists of two components: a 120-minute multiple-choice part on “administrative skilled means” and a 180-minute essay writing portion known as “shen lun,” translated to imply “setting up and defending an argument.”

The executive take a look at contains questions on the Report of the Nationwide Congress of the Communist Get together of China, and different guidelines and rules. The examination additionally checks for language abilities, knowledge evaluation, quantitative strategies, “judgment and reasoning,” and “commonsense judgment.”

The state expanded recruiting on the nationwide and provincial ranges by round 15% to twenty%, a call “aimed toward easing unemployment strain, significantly for school graduates,” a state media report mentioned, citing Zhu Lijia, a professor on the occasion’s Nationwide Academy of Governance.

About two-thirds of national-level civil servant positions throughout this spherical of testing had been solely open to new graduates, or those that graduated inside the final two years and unable to seek out employment, in line with state media.

China’s Ministry of Public Safety is the most important recruiter at a ministry degree, in line with a plan printed by the Nationwide Civil Service Administration.

Here is an inventory of some open positions:

1. China’s Ministry of Public Safety: 39 positions
2. Ministry of International Affairs: 38 positions
3. Basic Workplace of the Chinese language Communist Get together: 26 entry-level positions. The division supplies safety, medical care and secretary work for the highest management of the occasion and authorities.
4. Our on-line world Administration of China: 20 positions, 12 of which is able to work on the Emergency Command Heart of Web Safety. The regulator oversees content material and has to authority to take away apps from app shops.

China’s Nationwide Civil Service Administration couldn’t be reached for remark regardless of a number of makes an attempt by CNBC.

China’s civil service examination has its roots in China’s imperial examination system relationship again to the sixth century.

Below that system, students would take a number of ranges of checks to earn authorities positions — it was thought-about a course of that gave everybody a good likelihood to maneuver up in social hierarchy.

The nation’s present examination system was adopted in 1993 and in 2005, it turned obligatory for all entry-level authorities officers.

Nonetheless, Xi and different senior leaders didn’t have to take the civil service examination to realize their present roles.

By legislation, solely “non-leadership civil servants beneath the senior workers member degree and different equal positions” are required to take the take a look at, not senior leaders.

The president, vice chairman, chairman of the Central Navy Fee and different prime authorities positions in China are chosen via a course of wherein nationwide delegates talk about and nominate one candidate for every function.

Xi gained an unprecedented third time period Friday via this course of.

At a provincial or decrease degree, heads of presidency could face at most one competing candidate for every function.

Authorities officers in China earn a really modest wage.

However they’re usually assured a job for all times with excessive social standing. Preferential remedy contains bonus pay at festivals, higher medical insurance coverage and a better pension allotment while not having to make private contributions.

Precise figures on pay stay a delicate matter.

The newest numbers reported by state media confirmed civil servants earned a median of 48,608 yuan ($6,979) a yr in 2012. The stories additionally confirmed Xi acquired 136,620 yuan a yr in 2015.

For a tough comparability, the per capita wage revenue for city residents was 20,590 yuan in 2022, in line with official figures. Salaries fluctuate extensively in China by area and job kind.

Regardless of longer-term forecasts of a shrinking inhabitants and workforce, the variety of college graduates has climbed to file highs in the previous couple of years in China.

“From the attitude of employment, there’s sure strain,” Premier Li Qiang mentioned Monday in his first press convention within the function, in line with a CNBC translation of the Chinese language.

“We’ll develop employment channels to assist younger folks understand their private worth via exhausting work.”