China plans to recruit 35,691 civil servants in the 2027 national civil service examination, a decrease of 2,428 from the previous year, marking the second consecutive year of reduction. Of these, the tax system plans to recruit 24,013. While the total number of recruits nationwide has decreased, some provincial tax systems have increased their quotas, with tax positions accounting for over 70% of the total number of civil servants recruited in several provinces.
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Official websites across China recently released announcements for the national civil service examination, with registration for the 2027 exam starting on October 15th. Tax authorities in Guangdong, Shanghai, Tianjin, and other regions subsequently released recruitment notices, specifying eligibility, professional requirements, and review procedures. According to recruitment data compiled by Zhonggong Education, a Chinese civil service exam training institution, on October 14th, the tax system plans to recruit 24,013 people this year, accounting for 67.28% of the total number of positions available in the national civil service exam.
Shandong financial scholar Si Ling, in an interview with this station this Friday (16th), said that the year-on-year decrease in the number of civil servants recruited reflects the deteriorating state of China's finances, and the need for the authorities to increase revenue through taxation. He said that the outside world can glean insights into the direction of China's macroeconomic control policies from this: "The sharp decline in the number of civil servants recruited in China today is truly rare, indicating that the days when China used public funds to maintain a bloated bureaucratic system are over. Therefore, they are now carrying out comprehensive institutional streamlining, which also illustrates the reality that China's finances are precarious and urgently need improvement."
The commander believes that the increase in the proportion of tax personnel in recruitment against the trend indicates that the authorities may increase tax collection and inspection efforts next year: "Increasing the tax collection efforts and bringing the revenue into the national treasury for the central and local governments to use. Therefore, the fact that China has been able to achieve a counter-trend increase in the proportion of tax personnel in civil service recruitment this time shows how urgent and eager the Chinese government is to achieve its goal of increasing tax revenue."
Tax registration quotas increased in some provinces against the trend.
The national civil service examination for central government agencies and their affiliated institutions, known as the "National Civil Service Examination," attracts a large number of young people every year. According to statistics, as of 5 PM on October 15, 2026, approximately 218,400 people had registered.
Comparative data from publicly available job postings shows that the Yunnan Provincial Tax Service increased its recruitment by 400 people (40%) from 1,000 in 2026 to 1,400 in 2027; the Hubei Provincial Tax Service increased by 100 people from 1,200 to 1,300. The Tianjin Municipal Tax Service, however, decreased its recruitment by 100 people from 240. The percentage increases and decreases vary significantly across different regions. These figures are compiled from recruitment information and job postings.
Mr. Han, a former government employee in Shandong, told our station that local governments have been heavily indebted in recent years: "Some governments are even facing bankruptcy. How can this fiscal gap be solved? It can only be deducted from the people's income, which means increasing taxes. Currently, personal income tax is levied on individuals with an income of more than 5,000 yuan per month, which is too high."
Local authorities will recruit contract-based auxiliary personnel.
In addition to civil service recruitment, some tax authorities and local tax assistance agencies also recruit staff through public institution recruitment and contract employment. In April of this year, the Yuexiu District Fiscal Budget Review and Tax Assistance Center in Guangzhou issued a notice recruiting two contract-based assistants, requiring applicants to have a degree in accounting, financial management, or taxation, be familiar with tax regulations, and possess data processing and analysis skills.
Mr. Lu, a retiree from Guangzhou, said in an interview that China has a huge number of civil servants, and retired civil servants often receive monthly pensions of seven or eight thousand yuan, while officials at the division level receive more than ten thousand yuan: "A couple of my neighbors have a combined pension of 30,000 yuan, while non-civil servants only receive 3,000 yuan. Ordinary people don't earn money and don't spend it, so the government's finances are currently in deficit. Hiring more tax officials won't solve the problem. I hope that the pensions of officials within the system will be reduced. Because you already received high salaries when you were in office, and you don't do anything after retirement, your treatment should be the same as that of ordinary people. That's what fairness is."
The scale of recruitment expenses has attracted attention.
According to data released by China's Ministry of Finance, national tax revenue in 2025 is projected to reach 17.6363 trillion yuan, approximately 17.64 trillion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 0.8%. Based on the plan to recruit approximately 24,000 tax personnel next year, and assuming each person's annual salary, employer contributions to social security and housing provident funds, totaling 125,000 yuan, the related expenses for this group of personnel would amount to approximately 3 billion yuan annually. However, whether this group of tax personnel will actually increase tax revenue next year remains to be seen.