China's civil servant exam sees fiercer competition as job openings have been slashed.

The registration for guokao, or China's national civil servant exam, ended on Wednesday. As of the deadline, more than 1.2 million people have qualified to take the exam, competing for 14,500 vacancies, China News Service reported.

The number of job vacancies in this year has sharply declined, nearly half that in 2017, when 1.1 million applicants vied for 28,500 vacancies.

The competition is fierce: the average ratio of applicants to openings is about 85 to 1 this year, much higher than last year's 58 to 1.

The most sought-after vacancy, a post in the meteorological bureau of Longmen county in Guangdong province, draws 4,040 applicants.

The decrease in vacancy of this year's guokao is attributed to the reorganization of the Communist Party of China and government institutions carried out earlier this year, according to an expert from Offcn, a cram school for civil servant exam.

The unidentified expert said the merger of national tax and local tax authorities led to a nearly 70 percent reduction in tax-related posts, which account for nearly half of all vacancies.

Guokao is an annual examination to recruit civil servants for the national-level government departments, affiliated public institutions and local branches.

Despite the relatively low salaries of civil servants, job security and perks such as a better pension plan, health and welfare benefits attract many young candidates.

While the number of government positions has dropped, China has seen a record number of 8.2 million college graduates this year, which fuels an ever more competitive job market.

The written test of guokao will be held on Dec 12, and those who pass it will take the interview scheduled next year.