As many as 1.4 million Chinese people have applied for 22,200 civil servant jobs and taking the annual national public servant exam which is considered one of the most competitive tests in the country.
According to Xinuah, the figure is the lowest in five years and the actual number of people who turned up for the exam is not yet available.
Civil servant jobs are favoured by many people in the country as it offers stability. However, the popularity of government jobs has dropped in the past years.
About 10 percent of all vacancies are only for college graduates who became village officials.
At the end of 2012, there were 7.1 million civil servants in China.