国内英语新闻:China to launch large-scale public selections of leading officials

As he recalled from how he applied for the position on 26 June to the day he was informed of information publicity on 9 November, a final step to solicit public opinions before admission, Shen said "it was very intense with 37.8 persons fighting for one position during the written test and two for one in the final stage."

However, this selection system, seen as more fair and just, is now widely pursued by China's local personnel reforms.

Zhejiang, in southern China, introduced live TV broadcasts to involve public participation, in addition to the sole evaluation by leaders and experts, while east China's Shandong made an effort to promote the method of "democratic nomination, multi-candidate elections and whole-course supervision."

Dai Guohong, now deputy head of Jiangsu's Changshu Institute of Technology, used to work in Changzhou City for 22 years. When he applied for the position, he was not as confident since some his superiors were among the 50 contenders.

When he finally won the intense competition, he found the selection was rather open and transparent, and sought to offer each position to the right person.

"The whole process was covered by the media, even when the provincial Party's standing committee voted for the final," said Shen, who won the "double champion" based upon written exams and probation.

"All my colleagues applauded for me on the day I was posted for the information publicity. I was greatly encouraged and felt so confident for the future job," he added.

Yang Xuezhong, head of the Organization Department at the Baixia District Committee in Jiangsu's Nanjing City, commented that the openness and transparency of the whole process was exactly the strength of open selections.

"It not only grants credibility to the selection, but also increases the public participation in political decisions," he said.

Meanwhile, youthful, highly-educated and high-quality participants were featured in the country's public selections of mid-to-top cadres.

Among the 30 candidates for deputy departmental level posts to be assumed in Jiangsu, 24 had master degrees, 18 had senior professional titles, and half were under 45 years old, while of the 38 candidates for Beijing's offer, 13 had Ph.D degrees, half with master degrees, and the average age was 41.2 years.