In a surprising move this year, several provinces and cities in China have suddenly restricted international students from applying for civil service examinations. Many regions are rejecting applications from international students when selecting civil servants, even if they come from prestigious universities. Analysts believe that the Chinese Communist regime is in a precarious position and no longer dares to use international students with “freethinking”.
At the beginning of the new year, policies regarding the selection of civil servants in China began to change, with several provinces and cities clearly limiting or even “rejecting” international students. Beijing did not allocate any slots for international students this year, Guangdong rejected applicants from well-known overseas universities, and Shandong canceled the inclusion of overseas universities in both targeted and regular recruitment for 2025. Provinces like Henan, Hebei, and Shanxi made similar adjustments.
As the largest economic province in China, Guangdong excluded 60 globally renowned universities, including Harvard, Cambridge, and Oxford, from its civil servant recruitment for 2025.
According to data from educational institutions, in 2024, Guangdong recruited 54 international students, with 59.3% coming from Hong Kong universities and 14.8% from UK institutions. Among the recruits were graduates from prestigious British universities like Imperial College London and University College London.
In Shandong province, known for its large civil service recruitment, overseas universities were entirely excluded from both targeted and regular recruitment, closing the door to international students.
Beijing also rejected international students for targeted recruitment but allowed them to apply for the “优培计划,” with the requirement that overseas graduate students must have graduated from 43 “Double First-Class” universities or 25 universities with “Double First-Class” disciplines in China. Targeted recruitment is for civil servant positions, while the “优培计划” belongs to enterprise units.
In Hebei province, the 2023 recruitment focused on postgraduates from the top 50 QS-ranked universities who had studied at domestic undergraduate institutions. However, in 2024, the selection criteria were restricted to key domestic institutions and Hebei’s own undergraduate colleges, completely excluding students from overseas universities.
Henan province initially recruited graduates from the top 100 QS-ranked universities in 2023, but by 2024, only graduates from select domestic institutions were admitted. In the 2025 recruitment notice, overseas universities were required to be postgraduates who had completed their undergraduate studies domestically.
In Shanxi province, the targeted recruitment in 2022 included students from overseas universities, but the number of eligible universities decreased to 64 in 2023 and overseas students were explicitly not recruited in 2024.
In 2023, several regions announced the opening of targeted recruitment for returning students. Typically, becoming a civil servant requires participation in the national and provincial exams, as well as the so-called “selection and adjustment.” While competition is fierce in the national and provincial exams, the “selection and adjustment” opportunities continue to grow.
An article titled “Targeted Recruitment: Attracting ‘Returnees'” published in the October 21st, 2023 issue of “Chinese News Weekly” revealed that several provincial-level administrative regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangdong, Shandong, Sichuan, Henan, Hebei, and Shanxi, had opened targeted recruitment for returning students over the past year.
Selected recruits are divided into general recruits and targeted recruits. Ma Liang, a professor at Renmin University of China’s School of Public Administration, explained that general recruits are mostly assigned to grassroots units like towns and streets, while targeted recruits are often placed in county, municipal, or even provincial government offices.
The term “selection and adjustment candidate” refers to top graduates selected annually by provincial party organization departments from higher education institutions to work at the grassroots level. They are a group earmarked for key cultivation as reserve candidates for leadership positions in the party and government.
Selection and adjustment civil servants are chosen by provincial organization departments of the Chinese Communist Party each year from recent graduates of universities to work at the grassroots level, cultivating them as key candidates for leadership positions in the party and government. Their treatment and promotions are superior to those of commonly recruited civil servants.
Some people believe that the Chinese Communist Party previously allowed international students to participate in the selection and adjustment process to pave the way for officials’ children to enter the system. Jiang Zhisheng (pseudonym) from Guangzhou, who previously worked in the system’s media, told Epoch Times, “The reason behind allowing international students to participate in civil service targeted recruitment in the past was because the leaders’ children returning to China needed a head start. Therefore, this targeted recruitment was tailor-made for the children of wealthy second-generation officials, facilitating their career advancement within the system.”
“Just like the self-enrollment programs in major universities in recent years,” he said, “who do you think those programs are for? They have no connection with the common people; they are designed for the second-generation officials and second-generation wealthy who fail to perform well in the college entrance exams. After obtaining a diploma from domestic universities, they go abroad to enhance their credentials. Just as there are self-enrollment programs for college admissions, there are selection and adjustment candidates for civil servant positions, with policies beyond the standard rules to ensure a smooth career path for these officials’ children.”
However, some people say that the advantages once held by international students are now gone, making it challenging to arrange placements. Liu Xuemei (pseudonym), a resident of Shanghai, told Epoch Times that her son made a girlfriend while studying in the UK, whose father is a university president at a prestigious 985 university in China. They agreed that once the couple returned from the UK, they would be employed by the university. While her son’s girlfriend has already started working at the university since they returned over a year ago, her son has yet to be formally placed.
Regarding the issue of many regions in China rejecting the selection and adjustment of international students this year, historian Li Yuanhua, currently residing in Australia, told Epoch Times that in the past, overseas students were highly sought after but are now facing discrimination, reflecting the economic decline and self-isolation of the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP believes that international students abroad have greater exposure to information from free societies and are more likely to rationally view some of the CCP’s deceits. These individuals have been labeled by the CCP as holding “freethinking” from overseas, so the party is apprehensive about using these young individuals.
“This is a manifestation of self-induced panic within the CCP. It’s also a clear social trend. In the past, China’s economy was closely linked internationally, and returnees were highly valued. But times have changed, with rapid withdrawal of foreign investment and relocation of industries. As a result, the demand for civil servants with a background of studying abroad has decreased. Studying abroad exposes students to democratic and free-thinking ideologies, making them an unreliable factor for the CCP,” Li stated.
“They have lived abroad for many years, interacted with students from different countries, and maintained connections with their peers. Therefore, unintentionally, they may come into contact with sensitive national secrets. Perhaps due to these considerations, restrictions have been imposed on the public recruitment of overseas students,” he added.
Tian Xie, a professor at the University of South Carolina’s School of Business, believes that from the CCP’s perspective, while returnee international students bring foreign management experience and knowledge, they often also introduce Western thoughts, concepts, and practices. They may find fault with the CCP’s bureaucratic system and party culture. They tend to bring ideas of freedom and democracy and are likely to oppose communist ideology. Therefore, for the CCP, this has always been a double-edged sword.
Feng Chongyi, Associate Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Technology Sydney, noted that studying abroad was once seen as a symbol of China’s reform and opening up. In the early years, the government’s civil servant system would prioritize hiring returnees. However, with Xi Jinping coming to power, in the last decade, returnee students have increasingly faced discrimination from the authorities. This reflects the growing concerns of the CCP about the outside world, and excluding returnees from civil service recruitment could lead China back towards isolation.