Masters graduates have featured strongly in the most recent round of recruitment by Shanghai's Qingpu district's urban management department, Oriental Morning Post reported, after increased reports of abuse of power by officials in the past.

Of the 180 people selected for interview to compete for 60 positions, many are from the country's well-known universities, some have overseas study backgrounds, 119 held postgraduate degrees, and two had doctoral degrees.

The roles mainly involve the enforcement of urban management standards.

But in recent years, many cases of heavy-handed enforcement of laws have been reported, some involving the verbal abuse, or even beating, of vendors.

Officials blamed the cases on personnel with limited education experience.

In 2011, urban management staff in Shanghai began to receive the same remuneration as civil servants, which attracted many university graduates.