For the first time, Shenzhen is recruiting civil servants from Hong Kong and Macao as part of its efforts to build the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
A total of 446 fresh graduates from the two special administrative regions competed for five positions in tests held Saturday and Sunday.
The five civil service positions, covering the fields of administration, finance, city planning, foreign personnel management and medical supervision, are offered by government institutions of Futian, Luohu and Nanshan districts exclusively to people from Hong Kong and Macao, Chinese media reported Sunday. One person will be recruited for each post.
This is the first time Hong Kong and Macao citizens have participated in Shenzhen’s civil servant recruitment tests.
One position in the Fubao Subdistrict Office in Futian, which is relatively closer to Hong Kong geographically, was the most sought-after and attracted 244 people to apply.
The five posts, which require considerable professional and technical skills, are tailored for the development of the Greater Bay Area and the direction of cooperation between the three regions, according to reports.
Applicants are required to be a Chinese national, and uphold the Constitution, the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system. Being a CPC member is not a compulsory requirement, the website of the city’s human resources and social security department stated.
In order to create a suitable environment for Hong Kong and Macao youths to pursue a career on the Chinese mainland, Shenzhen has also recently launched 18 measures to facilitate the development of Hong Kong and Macao residents.
Earlier in 2020, the Guangdong Provincial Government announced that for the first time, the province will recruit civil servants from Hong Kong and Macao. But the applications were open only to fresh graduates from Hong Kong who had studied at mainland universities.
Unlike the provincial-level civil servant posts, the Shenzhen positions are open to a broader range of applicants from Hong Kong and Macao. Fresh graduates who have studied at mainland universities or universities in foreign countries are eligible, according to the city’s human resources authority.