On Aug 19, 1994, the country's open civil servant exam was introduced to select qualified officials for the central government. A total of 4,300 people applied for the three-day exam in Beijing, competing for 490 vacancies.

Before that, most government workers were selected from a pool of college graduates, retired army officers or senior managers from State-owned enterprises.

Civil service jobs in China are known as "iron rice bowls" because of guaranteed employment and good benefits.

Competition for civil service jobs has always been fierce, as they have long been perceived as secure, lifelong positions with stable pay, especially at the local level.

The number of applicants has soared in recent years, peaking last year with 1.66 million applicants. In 1994, a record 28,533 civil service jobs were advertised. The ratio of qualified applicants to vacancies was higher than 87-to-1. Fewer people applied from 2014 to 2017, but ratios were still competitive-50-to-1 at best.

In 2018, there were 4,040 applicants for administrator of the Guangdong Meteorological Bureau, which was the most competitive vacancy. The lowest-level employee positions of the State Administration of Taxation's branches in Shanghai and Sichuan province were each sought by more than 2,000 people.

This year more than 920,000 applicants took the national civil service exam, according to the State Administration of Civil Service. An average of 63 applicants were vying for each position.

This year, candidates across the country will take the national exam in October.

The majority of the positions in Party and government agencies above provincial level require two years of grassroots work experience, the administration said.