Chinese Youth Flock to Civil Service Exam Amid Job Crunch... Applicants Near 4 Million

Millions Apply for China's Civil Service Exam
3.45 Million Pass Eligibility Screening
Some Young People Head to Smaller Cities to Escape Job Competition

In China, where youth unemployment is severe, about 4 million people have applied for this year's civil service recruitment examination (guokao), it has emerged.

3,935,000 applicants... 97-to-1 competition ratio

University students attend a job fair in Wuhan, China. AFP-Yonhap News.

According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency on October 26 (local time), 3,935,000 people submitted online applications for the 2027 civil service recruitment examination for China's central government agencies and their directly affiliated agencies. Applications closed at 6 p.m. on October 24, and by October 26, 3,450,000 applicants had passed the eligibility screening. The planned number of positions for 2027 is 35,691, putting the competition ratio among those who passed the screening at 97 to 1.

The number of applicants who passed the eligibility screening was lower than in previous years. In 2025, 3,718,000 applicants passed the eligibility screening for the civil service examination, and the average competition ratio was 98 to 1.

Reasons for the civil service's continued popularity include relatively stable working conditions, such as job security. However, the number of national civil service positions in China has declined in recent years, while eligibility checks, including identity verification, have been tightened.

In 2025, China raised the maximum age for taking national examinations, including civil service exams, from 35 to 38. The age limit for master's and doctoral degree holders was also raised from 40 to 43. In the 2026 civil service examination, the first to be held after the age limits were raised, the number of applicants reached a record high. However, 2,831,000 people actually took the exam, putting the competition ratio among test-takers at about 74 to 1.

Resignation spreads amid economic slowdown... China's Gen Z faces risk of becoming a 'lost generation'

In China, economic uncertainty has grown amid weak domestic demand and a downturn in the real estate market since the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the rising number of college graduates has worsened youth unemployment. The number of university graduates this year is expected to reach a record 12.7 million, and concerns are also growing that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will reduce the number of jobs.

Warnings have also emerged that Chinese young people could become what is known as a "lost generation." The U.S. daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on October 12 that feelings of helplessness and resignation are spreading among China's Gen Z, those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, and said, "China's economic slowdown is creating a lost generation."

As of August, the unemployment rate among urban Chinese youth aged 16 to 24 was about 19%, more than twice the rate of about 9% among Americans in the same age group. The unemployment rate for those aged 25 to 29 was also 7.5%, higher than the U.S. rate of 5.3% and China's overall unemployment rate of about 5%.

Meanwhile, as job-market difficulties persist, young people's lives are also changing. Some are moving away from intense job competition in major cities and relocating to smaller cities in the provinces, where living costs are lower and life is relatively relaxed. Dali, a tourist city in China's Yunnan Province, is considered one of the main destinations attracting young people seeking to escape fierce competition.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.