6.99 mln grads hit market

By Liu Qiang. This year, nearly 6.99 million students will graduate from college, an increase of 190,000 compared with 2012. This number is the highest since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. One of the most important indexes of employment, the job contract signing rate, is on a downward slope compared with last year, indicating 2013 will be a tough year for graduates. Up to May 1, the job contract signing rate in Beijing reached 33.6 percent, up 5 percent from April's figures. These numbers are not just mere figures; they actually represent the real stories of graduates in desperate search of employment.
Due to the rapid expansion of college admissions, the number of graduates has almost quadrupled in just one decade, outrunning China's economic growth. The Chinese College Graduates' Employment Annual Report, published by MyCOS.com.cn, shows that in 2013 the job contract signing rate of postgraduates stands at 26 percent, down 9 percent compared with last year; the numbers for undergraduates and junior college students are 35 percent and 32 percent, down 12 percent and 13 percent respectively compared with last year. Read more...