Vice-premier promotes hiring of college grads

College students attend a job fair in Beijing on April 28. The event was organized by the central government to help young people secure jobs amid a competitive employment market. (PHOTO / CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang called for continuous efforts to make sure the nation's employment targets for college graduates this year are met.

The country is expected to have a record 11.58 million new college graduates this year, up 820,000 from last year.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said efforts should be made to prioritize employment, and policies for stable employment should be implemented as soon as possible and in a targeted and effective manner.

He made the remarks at a national teleconference centered on employment and entrepreneurship for college graduates held in Beijing on Thursday.

He called for more efforts to expand employment channels. Subsidies should be offered to companies to encourage them to hire new graduates, he added.

Graduates who want to start their own businesses are eligible to apply for interest-free loans, Ding said.

Job recruitment for government institutions should be stable, and State-owned enterprises should hire more graduates this year than last year, Ding said.

Efforts will be made to encourage graduates to take grassroots jobs, and special recruitment programs, such as those focused on hiring graduates to work as teachers in rural schools, as doctors or in the agricultural sector, will be expanded, he said.

Employment and entrepreneurship guidance services will be offered to graduates to encourage them to look for work, Ding said.

He also called for employment assistance to be given to college graduates who come from once-impoverished families, who have financial difficulties or who don't have family members who are employed, as well as those who are disabled.

Strict measures need to be taken to standardize the recruitment market, to crack down on fake job offerings and to prevent and rectify worker discrimination, Ding said.

Efforts should be made to alleviate structural contradictions related to employment and guide universities to adjust and optimize their majors, he said.

Local governments and universities need to redouble their efforts and take responsibility for offering policy support and guidance to make sure employment targets for this year are achieved, Ding said.

zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn