China's central government will, for the first time, reserve vacancies for farmers and workers in this year's nationwide civil service exams.

The announcement was made on Wednesday by the State Administration of Civil Service (SACS), which is in charge of recruiting central government employees.

Millions of farmers living in the country's rural areas were not allowed to take the exam selecting central government officials until 2006, when the restriction of household registration, or hukou, was lifted.

According to the administration, those reserved vacancies will be allocated among departments of the customs, state taxation and railway police at country-level or below.

The SACS posted a notice for the exams on its website, but did not specify the number of reserved vacancies.

The central government plans to recruit more than 16,000 public servants in 2011, 1,000 more than in 2010. About 85 percent of the vacancies require at least two-years grassroots work experience, up 15 percentage points from the previous year.

The SACS also revealed that 100 positions were specially created for college graduates who had served in villages to encourage more college students to work in rural regions after graduation.

Registration for this year's exams will start on Friday.