Job applicants whose parents work for government organs or public institutions will receive preferential treatment during the recruitment process of an official bureau in Central China's Hunan Province, the Beijing News reported on Thursday, fuelling nationwide anger and accusations of unfair practices.

One staff member of the Human Resources Bureau of Hecheng district, Huaihua City, told the Global Times that the accusations are groundless.

The bureau posted a recruitment announcement on its website on December 23, saying that they aim to recruit 13 people for its local financial department and 60 others for various local positions. The successful candidates will receive the bianzhi, meaning salary, bonuses or expenses paid by the government.

The announcement also stated that "those whose father or mother or both serves/serve in the local government or a local public institution" would receive preferential treatment in the application process.

Among the "preferential conditions" included in the job advertisement, those whose parents work in government or public institutions affiliated with the government – and have earned honors from district government or higher-level authorities – would receive extra points in their written recruitment test.

An employee of the local human resources bureau was quoted by the Beijing News as saying that their recruitment is not restricted to officials' offspring as "all the local residents in Hecheng district can apply for the job", as described in the second requirement.

The employee added that the requirements regarding the parents' current employment are aimed at preventing new Hecheng permanent residents from taking jobs from local residents who were born there.

Regarding the "preferential conditions", the employee said "this was determined by my leaders."

In December last year, seven of the 29 selected candidates who passed the written recruitment test for the public institution jobs in Anhui Province were children of officials.

In a separate case, a local government leader in Hunan has been accused of arranging a job for his undergraduate son, according to the Beijing Times.

"It is unfair for ordinary citizens," Xia Xueluan, a sociologist at Peking University, told the Global Times. "Making use of public power for private profit only serves to harm the government's credibility and tarnish its image. Civil servants should be more self-disciplined and call for a fair recruitment scheme for applicants."