(Yicai Global) April 27 -- The number of graduates hired by Chinese state-owned enterprises last year surged 23.4 percent from the year before as the country's government urges them to recruit more college graduates to help young people secure good jobs in a challenging economic environment.

SOEs recruited more than 760,000 college graduates in 2022, Li Jun, director of the Social Responsibility Bureau at the country’s macro-economic planner, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said at a press conference today. Just under half of these were positions in central government-owned enterprises, a gain of 23.9 percent.

And in order to make sure that this year’s crop of college graduates also find promising employment, the commission is urging state-owned and central enterprises to keep hiring more graduates.

Some 11.58 million college students are expected to come onto the job market this year, a 7 percent increase from last year, according to the Ministry of Education. Last year there were 10.76 million graduates, a year-on-year jump of 18.3 percent.

There has also been a big drive to organize online and in-person recruitment events by the central government. More than 110 job fairs have been held so far this year, with more than 700,000 positions on offer at over 32,000 companies. Some 8.4 million resumes were submitted.

More jobs are being created as the economy recovers, said Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Yu Jiadong. Just under three million jobs were offered in urban areas in the first three months, an increase of 4.2 percent from the year before. And the unemployment rate in cities dipped 0.3 percent in March from January and February to 5.3 percent.

However, at the same time, the external environment is still complex and changeable and young people such as college graduates face huge difficulties in securing jobs. While some highly skilled talent is in short supply, most people can’t get work, Yu said.

Editor: Kim Taylor