The jobs-for-life culture in China's government offices was officially confined to history on Monday when the Ministry of Personnel announced that the government laid off 17,857 civil servants from 1996 to 2002.

The ministry figures also showed that 28,626 people resigned from public service jobs in the seven years.

And 156,022 civil servants were penalized for breaking rules from 1993 to 2002. The number was 10,842 in 2002 alone.

More than 95 percent of civil servants have their performances assessed annually to decide promotion or demotion.

The government issued a temporary regulation on civil servants in 1993 and launched the first national examination to employ government officials in 1994.

The central government hired over 23,000 officials through the exam held annually in the past decade, and from 2000 to 2002 approximately 439,000 people passed the examination to get jobs in local government departments.

Hiring civil servants through exams had effectively reduced backroom activity and improved transparency in government personnel system, said a Ministry spokesman.

A set of rules and regulations have been issued to cover all aspects of life of civil servants, including examination, promotion, salary, bonus, training and relocation.

China has been reforming the civil service since 1993 and the number of civil servants stands at about 5 million in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2003)