Xinhua reported that, on December 5, more than one million people in 46 cities all over China took the Civil Service Exam to compete for 16 thousand government jobs. This is the largest exam ever organized for government jobs. The number of people taking the exam grew from 120 thousand in 2004 to 1.41 million this month.
In the eyes of many Chinese, a government position means a relatively stable and easy work environment. However, the competition is intense; for some popular positions there are 900 applicants for each position. Although the State Bureau of Civil Service announced several times that no remedial classes would be offered, remedial courses have nevertheless become a RMB 4.2 billion business. Cheating is a big problem. 409 people were caught last year. Radio monitoring devices were used this year in Beijing to battle cheating technologies.
Source: Xinhua, December 5, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-12/05/c_12848918.htm