China jobs: Beijing offers support as record 10.76 million graduates ramps up employment pressure

Name: Record 2.1 million Chinese sit civil service exam as economy slows, youth jobless rate climbs
Uploaded: 2022-02-14T12:30:19.000Z
Duration: 1 min 12 s
Description: Record 2.1 million Chinese sit civil service exam as economy slows, youth jobless rate climbs

The government will offer special help to young entrepreneurs and a range of incentives for small companies to employ fresh graduates

Youth unemployment is already high in China and competition for jobs has been intensified by lay-offs caused by regulatory clampdowns

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Job seekers wait in line to enter a recruitment fair in Shanghai. Photo: Xinhua

Luna Sun

Published: 8:30pm, 14 Feb 2022

China is rolling out support for a record 10.76 million college students poised to graduate this year, amid heightened competition for jobs and slowing economic growth.

The government will offer special help to young entrepreneurs as “starting a new business has a multiplier effect in driving up employment”, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, said on Friday.

“In recent years, more college graduates have taken part in entrepreneurship, but they also face difficulties in financing, lack of experiences and services among other [issues],” the NDRC said in a statement. “The exemplary activities this year will revolve around the promotion of college graduates’ entrepreneurial practices and employment opportunities.”

The list of preferential policies include free, government-funded start-up incubators, special loans with reduced interest rates, fee and tax cuts, as well as the possibility for college students to retain school credits while taking years off to start a business.

The 10.76 million students set to enter the job market in 2022 does not include those who graduated from overseas universities and are returning home.

China’s job market is a top priority for Beijing and comes amid a host of economic challenges, including sporadic coronavirus outbreaks that continue to weigh on consumption, a property market downturn, supply shocks that have driven up the cost of raw materials, and tensions with Western nations.

The country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), China’s main source of jobs, were particularly hard hit by the pandemic and are still under enormous pressure.

About 4.37 million of China’s smallest businesses permanently shut their doors in the first 11 months of the year, more than three times the number of new ones that opened during the same time, according to data obtained by the South China Morning Post.

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Record 2.1 million Chinese sit civil service exam as economy slows, youth jobless rate climbs