All candidates applying to work in Chinese government departments at various levels now must pass a comprehensive examination before they take those jobs, said Zhang Bailin, Chinese personnel minister in Beijing Wednesday.

The examination includes a written test and a face-to-face interview, said Zhang at the China Reform Forum. An average of 100,000 persons are selected across China each year.

There are six million public servants working for the Chinese government, said Zhang. China's first law on pubic servants was passed last April.

China has pushed forward the reform of the public servant system. The job of public servants is no longer an "iron bowl" now, said Zhang. From 1996 to 2003, the Chinese government dismissed over 16,000 public servants.

Public servants are free to leave their jobs whenever they find them uninteresting or unsuitable. In the past seven years, 30,000 public servants quit their jobs.

The development of the public servant system will help build a service-oriented government, he said.

Source: Xinhua