经济学人读译civil-service exams公务员考试the golden rice-bowl“金饭碗”

【导读】在中国，公务员这只“金饭碗”可不是那么好端的 Civil-service exams 公务员考试公务员考试 The golden rice-bowl “金饭碗金饭碗” Young graduates, once risk-takers, now want to work for the government again 曾喜欢冒险的年轻毕业生如今曾喜欢冒险的年轻毕业生如今再度再度想要投向政府部门的怀抱想要投向政府部门的怀抱 Nov 24th 2012 | TAIYUAN, SHANXI PROVINCE | from the print edition AS CHINAS economy has boomed over the past 30 years, the number of young people going into private business has grown accordingly. “Diving into the sea” of commerce, or xia hai as it is known, became accepted as the way to make money and get ahead, and interest in government jobs declined. Over the past decade, though, in an extraordinary reversal, young jobseekers have been applying in droves for government posts, even as the economy has quadrupled in size. 过去三十年来，随着中国经济的繁荣发展，越来越多的年轻人在求 职时走向了私营企业。为了赚钱、出人头地，人们接受了“下海”这 种方式，而对政府职位渐渐失去了兴趣。在过去的十年里，中国经 济规模翻了两番。然而与此同时，年轻的求职者来了个 180 度的大 转弯，争先恐后地应聘起了政府职位。 On November 25th the national civil-service examinations will take place, and about 1.4m people will sit them, 20 times more than a decade ago. Of that number, only 20,800 will be hired by government (millions more sit the equivalent provincial exams with similarly long odds of being hired). This increase is due in part to a surge in the number of university students entering an intensely competitive market for jobsnearly 7m graduated this year, compared with 1.5m a decade ago. It is also thanks to health, pension and (sometimes) housing benefits, which are seen as generous and permanent in a society with an underfunded safety neta modern version of the unbreakable Maoist “iron rice-bowl” of state employment. 11 月 25 日，中国将举行国家公务员考试。届时将有约 140 万人应 考，是十年前的二十倍。在这么多考生中仅有 20800 人将被政府录 用（此外还有几百万考生将参加类似的省级公务员考试，录取率同 样很低） 。应考人数相比往年有所增加，部分是由于进入竞争激烈的 市场求职的大学生猛增今年有近 700 万名大学生毕业，而十年 前的毕业生仅为 150 万人。在医疗、养老和（部分情况下）住房方 面，公务员还享有种种福利，这也是应考人数增加的原因。在毛泽 东时代，政府公职是摔不坏的“铁饭碗”。而当今中国社保资金不足， 在人们眼中，公务员享受的这些丰厚稳定的福利无疑也是一只“铁饭 碗”。 Some civil-service jobs, and almost all senior jobs, require membership of the Communist Party. This helps account for the resurgent appeal of the party as a conveyor of status, connections and spoils. Other routes exist into plum state jobshaving a well-placed friend or relative in government always helpsbut, in a faint echo of Chinas ancient imperial exam system, civil-service tests, introduced on a national level in 1994, offer a relatively merit-based way to get in. Successful applicants may be disappointed once they show up for work, but the perception persists, among both aspirants and detractors, that being an official is the road to security and wealth (and if youre lucky, Ferraris and mistresses). 有些公务员职位、以及几乎所有的政府高级职位都需要任职者拥有 共产党党籍。这可以解释为什么中国再次掀起了一股入党热潮，因 为入党可以带来地位、关系和利益。想要得到政府肥缺，还有一些 其他的门路在政府内部有位高权重的亲友总能帮得上忙。但公 务员考试提供了一种相对而言择优录取的途径，来让人们挤进这个 圈子。公务员考试于 1994 年首次在国家层面展开招考，和中国古代 的科举考试有几分相似之处。被录用的应考者一旦上岗，可能会感 到有些失望。不过，无论是满怀抱负的考生，还是抨击公务员制度 的人士，都仍然认为担任公职是通往安康富裕的大道（如果你走运 的话，这条大道上还有香车美女） 。 Not as fun as it sounds 并没有看起来那么美好并没有看起来那么美好 Zhang Minfu does not have a Ferrari or a mistress. He does not even have a girlfriend. In fact, he is a sobering example of just what is awaiting many of those hopeful applicants. Mr Zhang (not his real name) is bespectacled, with chubby cheeks, his sleeves rolled up as he eats dinner and chain-smokes. The cigarettes are an unglamorous provincial brand and his mobile phone is a low-end Nokia. He owns no flat and, he says, does not have much of a life outside his work. 张民富（音）既没有香车，也没有美女。他连女朋友都没有。实际 上，他就是一个令人警醒的例子，预示了大部分满怀希望的应考者 会在前方找到什么。张民富并非他的真名。他戴着眼镜，面颊微微 发胖，吃饭时、一根接一根地抽烟时袖子都会卷起来。他抽的烟并 不是什么高档货，用的手机也只不过是廉价的诺基亚。他没有房子， 还说自己在工作之外也没什么业余生活。 Mr Zhang, who is 27, is beginning his climb up the bureaucracy in the capital of a province, Shanxi, south-west of Beijing, which is reputed to be among the most corrupt and least competently governed. The jobs are hard to get, says Mr Zhang, but they are not the cushy sinecures that many assume. He works from 8am until midnight on most days, he says, compiling dry reports on topics like coal production and sales for higher- level officials. He commands a modest salary by urban standardsabout 2,800 yuan ($450) a month, in a city where a decent flat near his office rents for two-thirds that much. This way of life does not impress the ladies, he says; he has been on two blind dates in four years, both of them failures. 今年 27 岁的张民富在山西太原（山西省位于北京的西南，据说是中 国最为腐败、政府治理最差的省份之一） ，正开始在官场里往上爬。 张民富表示，政府工作不好找，但这些职位并不是很多人想象中的 清闲美差。他说自己几乎总是从早上八点开始上班，为上级整理一 些诸如煤炭产销之类的枯燥报告，一直忙到半夜。他每个月的工资 有 2800 元左右（约合 450 美元） ，按城市标准来衡量并不算高 在他单位附近租一套像样点的房子就要花去他三分之二的薪水。他 说自己的生活方式吸引不了女孩子；四年来他相过两次亲，都没有 成功。 This picture of dedication and loneliness stands in sharp contrast to the popular image. Mr Zhang says he is as disgusted as the general public is with official corruption. He notes that, like many civil servants, he works in a job without the kind of power that could be abused. The leaders in his office work longer hours than he does and still ride bicycles to work. 这幅兢兢业业、形单影只的画面和人们对公务员的印象形成了鲜明 对比。张民富说自己和普通大众一样痛恨腐败。他提到，他和很多 公务员一样，在工作中并没有什么职权可以去滥用。在张民富的单 位，有些领导每天比他工作的时间还要长，而且还在骑自行车上班。 A noodle-vendor once asked a friend of Mr Zhangs, who works in a local prosecutors office, what his salary was and, when he heard, said he would rather sell noodles. Mr Zhang counters that he took the exam precisely so that he would not end up like the noodle-vendor. It is about social status, he explains. “If youre an official, theres a chance of promotion. The chance is small, but Chinese culture is deeply influenced by official cadre culture.” 张民富有个朋友在当地检察院工作。一个卖面条的小贩曾经问他薪 水多少，听了对方的回答之后，这个小贩说他宁愿继续卖面条。张 民富反驳道，自己参加公务员考试恰恰就是为了避免落到卖面条小 贩那种境地。他说这是社会地位的问题。 “只要当官，就有晋升的机 会。这种机会很渺茫，但中国文化深深地受到了官场干部文化的影 响。 ” The chance of advancement is small indeed. Of Chinas 6.9m civil servants, about 900,000 are, like Mr Zhang, at the lowest official rung of govern