Nearly 1.58 million candidates passed the qualification assessment for the annual civil service exam, according to a release on the official website for the exam on Monday, and experts say the competition will be fiercer than previous years.

Working for the government has long been a goal because of the stable income and higher social status such jobs bring. Its advantages have been highlighted as the job market has been shocked by the coronavirus pandemic this year.

However, such security brings increasingly cutthroat competition.

In 2021, the nation plans to recruit 25,700 civil servants－1,600 more than the previous year－for its 79 central agencies and 23 subsidiary institutions.

But the number of applicants is also about 110,000 more than the previous year, according to Offcn, a Beijing-based training institution.

One of the most popular jobs－an officer in Guangdong province's survey department responsible for data processing and analysis－has about 3,000 applicants.

The average is around 61 applicants per position, and about 35 vacancies have over 1,000 candidates each.

"Civil servant recruitment has long been a solution to ease the nation's employment pressure, which is of greater importance this year because of the shattered economy and job market due to the COVID-19 shock," said Li Chang'an, a professor from the Academy of Open Economy of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Li said that being a civil servant has long been a coveted job because of its stability and higher social acceptance.

"People's enthusiasm for becoming a civil servant has increased this year as it's harder to find jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic," he said.

"The competition may be even fiercer this year. Though the nation has enlarged its recruitment plan, it's still far from satisfying people's demands as both the economy and job market have yet to be restored to normalcy."

Opening for registration on Oct 15, the exam finished its registration on Saturday evening.

Candidates should be between the ages of 18 and 35, according to a guideline by the State Administration of Civil Service.

Among the vacancies, about 15,000 positions are only open to college graduates and 8,300 positions for those willing to work in western provinces or rural areas with harsh conditions.

Those passing the assessment will sit for a written test in late November and assume their positions in 2021 after undergoing interviews and health checks.

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