Officials with family members residing overseas - the so-called "naked officials" - will be barred from running in Ningbo's cadre elections, the Zhejiang Online news website reports.
The report on Monday highlights the Communist's Party's increasing concern over the exodus of capital and talented people from China.
According to Ningbo’s Muncipal Organisation Department, the new conditions will follow a "point-based" competitive selection process - a first for the seaport city in the northeast of Zhejiang.The report said candidates would also go through rigorous screening and tests.
Striving to push a younger generation of cadres forward, candidates qualify for running if they are born after 1980, possess a bachelor’s degree and have at least three years work experience. County level officials have a lower age limit of 28-years-old.
The term “naked official” refers to party or government officials in China, who have immediate family members residing overseas, sometimes as foreign nationals.
Such conduct has drawn heavy scrutiny in recent years as it is thought to go hand-in-hand with corrupt officials transferring ill-gotten gains out of the country.