How do governments select the right people for public service? This book examines the evolving logic of civil service recruitment in contemporary China, focusing on the balance between fairness, competence, and political loyalty. Through a detailed case study of Shenzhen, it offers rare insights into the workings of a highly standardized selection system.

Spanning policy, practice, and perception, the book explores how China’s civil service examinations function in practice and whether they effectively match candidates with job and organizational requirements. Drawing on interviews with policymakers, examiners, and test designers, as well as a large-scale survey of civil servants, the study introduces a new theoretical concept—person–government fit—to explain hiring practices in state bureaucracies. It traces the historical development of the system, analyzes test content, and evaluates the outcomes of civil service selection using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Shenzhen, one of China’s most innovative and reform-oriented cities, serves as a revealing case to explore broader governance trends in the post-reform era. The book also offers a comparative perspective of the civil service examination in Hong Kong, providing practical lessons and policy improvements.

This book will be valuable for scholars, students, and practitioners in public administration, political science, and Chinese studies. It offers a grounded, empirical look at how state capacity is built from the ground up and provides new tools for understanding recruitment and human resource management in the public sector.