More than 1.39 million applicants signed up for China's national civil service exam this year, a slight drop of 1 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

An average of 50 applicants were vying for each position, lower than last year's 63.

At the same time, there are still 131 positions that require special academic backgrounds, such as meteorological observation and geology, with no applications at all.