Houston Community News >> Chinese Students Graduate without Jobs

11/17/2006 Beijing, Nov 18 (Xinhua)-- About 1.24 million Chinese college students will graduate this year but are not sure of finding jobs suiting their qualification.

Stating this, Tian Chengping, head of the ministry of labor and social security, said that only 22 percent of China's new jobs last year were meant for college students.

He said that 4.13 million students graduated from higher education institutions this year, 750,000 more than last year.

The government, he added, had set up a mechanism to provide guidance and training for unemployed graduates.

Tian urged college graduates to work in grassroots units and undeveloped areas where they were most wanted.

With an average 10 percent annual economic growth over the past two decades, China was no longer able to accommodate surplus labor, with the official unemployment rate standing at 4.1 percent in the first nine months.

The demand for college graduates was down by 22 percent in 24 provinces and 15 major cities from last year, said a report by the ministry of personnel in March.

A survey showed 52.14 percent of bachelors considered lack of social experience as the biggest obstacle in finding work.

Colleges and universities should organize internships to prepare students for employment, said Lin Zeyan, a researcher with the development research centre of the state council.

The country needed to develop the service sector and promote small and medium sized enterprises to create more jobs, said Mo Rong, deputy chief of the labor science research institute of the ministry.