Universities and colleges should accept 50 per cent more students to help ease rising unemployment, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The report says tertiary institutions should raise their intake and absorb 'several millions' of people who would otherwise be forced to compete on the job market.
It says only about 25 of every 10,000 mainlanders now receive university-level education.
The current modernisation drive calling for more professionals also meant there was room to expand the tertiary sector.
The report suggests universities and colleges expand their combined annual intake from 2.5 million to 3.75 million.
A report released yesterday by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the State Statistical Bureau said urban unemployment was 3.1 per cent at the end of last year.
