Chinese graduates sail into jobs

Most of this summer's 866,000 Chinese university graduates have already found jobs, according to the Chinese State Education Commission in Beijing.

Ninety per cent of the 400,000 students graduating with degrees and 95 per cent of postgraduates have employment arranged immediately after graduation. Seventy per cent of students on two-year diplomas and other courses have also found jobs.

The commission has meanwhile asked relevant departments, local governments, universities and colleges to give every effort to help find jobs for the rest.

An official said that as the idea of a market economy has become acceptable to increasing numbers of people in China, university students have begun to expect more out of their future careers. The old ethos and feelings of security normally associated with government-assigned jobs in the minds of parents and students in the past is losing its hold and being replaced by more ambition.

Today's graduates have more vitality than their predecessors, are far more optimistic about their future prospects, and would much rather look for their own jobs than be assigned by the government. They believe their chances of achieving a more rewarding and better paid career are improved by choosing their own jobs.