Spring Festival is not yet over but job seekers cannot wait any longer. About 30,000 people flocked to the first job fair in Beijing on Thursday amid the global economic downturn.

Anxious candidates queued up for about half an hour to buy tickets to get into the new hall of the Agriculture Exhibition Center. And even after getting the tickets, many of the candidates were told to wait outside because the hall was too crowed.

More than 7 million college graduates will enter the job market this year and about 9 million urban unemployed could find it difficult to land a job.

About 300 employers have set up stalls at the two-day fair that offers 3,000 to 4,000 jobs, and candidates were seen elbowing their way through the crowd to reach the front.

"We can tell from the look of the fair that the job market is tough now," Li Shuyu, a fair organizer, said.

"We have tightened security for the fair. Many job seekers were reluctant to leave the hall even after the fair closed at 4 pm because they wanted to have a few more words with their prospective employers."

Job seekers in the country face a tough time this year as the global financial crisis takes a toll on the China's economy. The first half of this year would be the "toughest" for the government as it prepares for a moderate 8 percent GDP growth against double-digit increase in previous years.

The lure of finding a job has attracted many people from outside Beijing to the two-day fair. "We thought Beijing offered more opportunities so we came here," said a woman from Shandong province who was accompanying her daughter. "But we've found there are more job seekers here."

She and her daughter are staying in a hotel, and plan to attend more job fairs next week. "My daughter is under a lot of pressure I cannot just let her look for a job alone," she said.

Even former senior managers like Chen Liuyu are flocking to job fairs. Chen, in his 50s, used to be the vice-president of a container company. He resigned recently after the company underwent restructuring because of the global financial crisis.

Attending a job fair for the first time, he said: "I've always kept an open mind Today I just wanted to check out the job fair."

"I'm confident of finding a suitable job soon because I have more than 30 years experience," he said.

(China Daily February 6, 2009)