China has denounced as "extremely irresponsible" reports that questions from the national civil service recruitment examinations had been leaked.

The exams took place on Saturday with more than half a million Chinese hoping to land a government job, Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

A statement from the Ministry of Personnel denied that the confidential documents had been leaked. "Investigations show that test questions of the 2007 national civil servant recruitment examination were not disclosed," it said.

A string of cheating scandals, including test paper leaks and surrogate exam-takers, has plagued China's university entrance exams in recent years.

For many centuries, civil service entrance examinations served as a key first step for young, educated Chinese hoping to join the vast imperial administration.

Today, increasingly, young people in China have an alternate path to money and status -- winning much-coveted jobs in the private sector which has mushroomed.