Official stresses fairness in civil servant selection in China

A senior official in charge of the government's personnel management on Friday called for fairness in the annual selection of civil servants. Those who enter the civil servant force will have to take exams and attend interviews, Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, said at a national conference. The annual national civil servant exam has proven to be fair, scientific and acceptable by the general public, said Yin, who is also deputy head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. More than 900,000 civil servants have been chosen through the annual selection process since 2008, he said. There were 7.08 million civil servants in China as of the end of 2012, according to the State Administration of Civil Service (SACS), which is affiliated with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. "Moral fortitude should weigh more heavily than talent in the selection of civil servants," said Yin, who is also head of SACS. Applicants who have more than two years of work experience are preferable, he said, adding that more village officials and university graduates who have worked in village governments after graduation should be considered in the selection process. Efforts should be made to explore ways to turn high-quality laborers and agricultural workers into civil servants, Yin said. The annual civil servant exam is highly competitive. About 1.12 million candidates took the national civil servant exam on Nov. 25, 2012, marking a year-on-year increase of 150,000 people, according to SACS. One out of every 53 examinees successfully obtained a government post, according to the administration.