BEIJING -- China on Sunday launched its first national civil service examination since elevating the eligibility age cap beyond 35.

More than 2.83 million people took the annual exam in a bid to secure positions with the country's central authorities and their branches. This means roughly 74 applicants are competing for one available post on average.

Approximately 70 percent of these vacancies are reserved for fresh college graduates, according to authorities.

Nearly 110,000 exam sites located in 250 cities across 31 provincial-level localities hosted the written exam for public subjects on Sunday.

China has lifted the eligibility age limit for this exam to 38 in general, which is hailed as a welcome move to break the 35-year ceiling normally seen in the job-seeking market.

For new graduates from master's and doctoral programs, the age cap has been further relaxed to 43, authorities said.

Ma Liang, a professor at the School of Government at Peking University, said that easing the age limit for civil service recruitment is an inevitable trend, as delayed retirement and longer years of education are leading people to enter the workforce later.

The entire society uses the age limit for civil service recruitment as a benchmark, so to promote inclusiveness in recruitment across all sectors, the adjustment was necessary, he said.