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Learning to be a civil servant

By Wang Xiaotian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-18 08:05

Training industry blossoms as students seek secure employment

When Chen Chen paid out nearly 2,000 yuan last summer to prepare for the once-a-year civil servant entrance exam in November, he didn't realize he was helping to sustain a growing industry employing more than 100,000 staff.

The 23-year-old master graduate in media economics from a Beijing university, who enjoys politics and history, decided to take the risk because it was his dream to become a civil servant.

Last year, more than 90 percent of the students in his class took the exam for various reasons. "On the day, the entire campus was almost deserted," Chen said.

Thousands of students queue up to take the civil service exam in Wuhan in November. One million candidates sat the test last year in the hope of gaining one of the 15,000 jobs available. [China Daily]

More than 1 million people sat the exam across the country last year in the hope of getting one of the coveted 15,000 posts available at more than 130 central government departments and agencies. In 2008, the number of applicants was about 700,000.

The figure has surged 40 percent annually on average since 1997, according to statistics from Zhonggong Education Group, a Beijing-based company specializing in offering training for the exam.

Civil servant entrance exams at provincial level provided extra work for the industry with nearly 4 million hopefuls in 2009. Some areas showed a 70 percent rise year-on-year in the number of people taking the test.

Li Yongxin, president of Zhonggong, said 10 percent of the attendants each year are likely to spend money on training courses over two core subjects: essay writing and an administrative aptitude test, which includes Chinese reading comprehension, numerical reasoning, general knowledge and logic.

The remaining 90 percent buy textbooks published by various training organizations with either a private or official background. Li said books make up only a small percentage of total profits, while courses are the most lucrative sector.

Chen Chen spent 880 yuan ($128.90) last year on a five-day essay-writing course organized by Huatu Education Group, another training company that claims a 50 percent market share. One of his classmates on the course spent 3,000 yuan on six courses covering the two subjects.

Li said the newly developed "caretaker" course, a personal instruction service provided by a tutor over three or six months, is very popular among attendants busy with work while preparing for the exam, despite it costing more than 10,000 yuan.

"These high-end customers contributed 60 to 70 percent of our sales," he said. "The industry has been growing dramatically."

Despite competition from thousands of training companies, Zhonggong and its main rival Huatu are far ahead of the field and performing so well they are in discussions about launching initial public offerings in the coming three or four years.

Yi Dinghong, president of Huatu, announced in December the company plans to select underwriters within six months, and it also plans to list the whole company in the domestic A-share market in 2012 in the belief the market value of the group could reach 10 billion yuan by then. He hopes to list the internet part of the business on the Nasdaq either this year or next. Li and his colleague in Zhonggong expect to float within four years.

Wang Junxuan, marketing director of Hangbo, another training company that claims a six percent market share and 200-plus employees, said the market could be worth 50 billion yuan in the next five years. "What's more, local training organizations have been building remarkable strength in different provinces," he said. "Although nationally companies such as Huatu and Zhonggong are more famous, they are not top dogs when it comes to second- and third-tier provinces." He added that this year the company would accelerate regional expansion by setting up more than 40 branches across the country.

Zeng Xiangquan, dean of the Labor Relations and Human Resources School at Renmin University of China, said increasing demand for stable employment during the current volatile economic conditions had increased enthusiasm for the exam and the consequent prosperity of the training industry.

"Apart from stable employment, a civil servant position also provides a stable lifestyle, meaning fixed off-duty time and less overtime working," said Chen. He added that the work was attractive to those who wanted to serve people and improve their lives.

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