The proportion of civil servants employed under contract will be increased from the current 5 percent to 10 percent within two years in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

The Shenzhen bureau of human resources and social security on Tuesday that more than 4,000 civil servants will be hired under contract rather than with a lifetime job guarantee, Nanfang Daily reported.

The practice is expected to increase competitiveness among the civil servants and promote efficiency in government agencies, the bureau said.

The local government began employing a percentage of civil servants under contract in 2007 — more than 2,000 now work under contract.

Most civil servants in China are employed under an appointment system in which the position is offered for life so long as they do not violate rules.

Wang Yukai, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that the employment under contract could break the traditional notion of civil servants' "iron rice bowl" — lifelong employment — because they could be dismissed if they fail job performance assessments.