(Yicai Global) Nov. 22 -- The number of job advertisements on China's leading job site, 51job, fell to 930,000 in September, lopping off two thirds from the 2.9 million total in April as smaller companies' financial woes force them to restrict hiring.

There were 8.9 million job ads posted on the site during the second and third quarters, according to data scraped from the site by Tianfeng Securities. Just over a third of these were in first-tier metropolises and more than half were in second-tier cities, with private companies making up 72 percent, state-backed firms 4 percent and foreign-backed firms 8 percent.

Small and medium-sized enterprises with less than 500 employees made up 65 percent of the two million ads lost during the six-month period, while those with between 500 and 1,000 workers added 12 percent.

The growth rate of loan balances at SMEs in the third quarter fell to 12.2 percent in the second quarter and 10 percent in the third, the lowest value since 2009, according to central bank data. Smaller companies are finding it harder than ever to get their hands on external finance, and it appears that lack of cash is transferring into restricted hiring.

Heightened supervision of finance, culture and the environment led to areas like entertainment, mining and finance being the hardest hit. China's position in the real estate industry cycle also led to struggles for the furniture and home appliance sectors, though life insurance, hotels, tourism, pharmaseuticals, chipmaking and high-end manufacturing fared well.

Some 15 percent of the jobs lost were in first-tier cities while 68 percent were in second-tier cities. Third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities made up 8 percent, 3 percent and 6 percent.