A number of provinces including Jiangsu are mulling a pilot program to end the "iron bowl" culture of civil servants by imposing contracts of employment, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

A contract for civil servants normally lasts 1-5 years and renewal depends on performance in the post according to the new system. Those who fail in the evaluation may be fired.

The program rule is expected to be issued by the end of 2012. Meanwhile, other provinces including Sichuan, Henan and Hubei will also join the pilot program.

In fact, Shenzhen, a special economic zone in Guangdong province, started the pilot program in 2007 and since Jan 2010, all new civil servants have contracts of employment.

"The new system will exert pressure on those who don't take their job seriously," said an anonymous professor with Nanjing Normal University. "This system is good because civil staff need to perform well on their posts to renew the contracts," he added.

The phrase "iron rice bowl" was used to describe a job for life usually as a civil servant in China.