More than 700,000 Chinese, including over 5,000 farmers, have joined the army of government workers since China began to try to employ civil servants via examinations in 1994, according to the Personnel Ministry.

All the 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions on the Chinese mainland have adopted the exams, and more than 2.4 million people have attended the tests.

Apart from the farmers, about 150,000 people from state-owned enterprises, non-state enterprises, social institutions and job seekers have also been employed as civil servants through the exams.

The examination system, based on the principle of "transparency, fairness, competition, and merit," has been successful in terms of the reform of China's personnel system, said a ministry official.

According to the ministry, 28,000 civil servants resigned due to personal reasons while some 17,000 others were fired for reasons such as incompetence or malpractices between 1996 and 2002.Enditem

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2003)