More than 700,000 Chinese, including over 5,000 farmers, have
joined the army of government workers since China began to try to
employ civil servants via examinations in 1994, according to the
Personnel Ministry.
All the 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions on
the Chinese mainland have adopted the exams, and more than 2.4
million people have attended the tests.
Apart from the farmers, about 150,000 people from state-owned
enterprises, non-state enterprises, social institutions and job
seekers have also been employed as civil servants through the
exams.
The examination system, based on the principle of "transparency,
fairness, competition, and merit," has been successful in terms of
the reform of China's personnel system, said a ministry
official.
According to the ministry, 28,000 civil servants resigned due to
personal reasons while some 17,000 others were fired for reasons
such as incompetence or malpractices between 1996 and
2002.Enditem
(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2003)