Just over 40 percent of primary school students said in a recent survey that a government post was their ideal job.

The survey of 3,631 primary school pupils conducted by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) in 21 primary schools showed that 41.1 percent of the students hope to become officials in government departments or administrations. Almost 18 percent said they wanted to become experts or technicians while 14.3 percent want to work in business.

"The students are not so much interest-driven when choosing their careers but are swayed by income and social status", said Bao Leiping, an SASS education expert, adding that the traditional concept of climbing the social ladder by working in government posts is still popular.

Government posts continue to be much sought after even in the adult world.

According to figures released by Ministry of Personnel this year, a total of 1,113,966 people applied to take part in a nation-wide competition for 12,724 government posts offered by 89 government departments and regional units. More than 500,000 were determined to be qualified to take the examination authorized, creating a ratio of 42 people competing for every job on offer.

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2006)