China's civil servant exam saw 86,456 people on the first day of online applications, 16,700 applicants more than last year, according to Huatu Education, an agency that offers coaching services to applicants.
In 2020, the nation plans to recruit about 24,000 civil servants at 86 central agencies and 23 subsidiary institutions, the State Administration of Civil Service said, up from 14,500 vacancies in 2019.
Despite the spike in job openings, the competition might not be less fierce. Figures from the first day showed that the average ratio of applicants to openings stood at 8.03 to 1, higher than last year's 4.7 to 1.
In one extreme case, 248 candidates will compete for a single spot affiliated with the First Historical Archives of China, a national-level archive in China.
More than 10,000 applicants had qualified to take the exam by 5 pm, with nearly half distributed in the tax authority, which occupies the biggest share in the 2020 intake.
Beijing is the hottest place for the civil servant exam, with the most vacancies and the most applicants -- over 13,000 on the first day of registration, according to statistics.
People can apply for available positions until Oct 24, and the written examination will be held on Nov 24.