"I think the government's work can still be done well if the number of civil servants is reduced by one-quarter or one-third. The people who are left have to be competent, of course. We can raise the salary and reorganize the work procedures."

Ye Qing, deputy director of the Hubei Statistics Bureau, was quoted as saying by Beijing Evening News. Ye estimated that the number of civil servants will be reduced by 25 percent in 15 years. From 2008 to the end of 2012, the number of civil servants increased by 500,000 to a total of 7.08 million, the State Administration of Civil Service said on Thursday.