About 1.24 million Chinese college students will graduate without jobs that require their qualifications this year, Tian Chengping, head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, has warned.

A total of 4.13 million students graduated from higher education institutions this year, 750,000 more than last year, said Tian.

Tian said the government had set up a mechanism to provide guidance and training for unemployed graduates.

Only 22 percent of China's new jobs last year were for college graduates, according to a ministry study of 114 urban labor markets.

Tian said the country should create more jobs in the process of economic development and urged college graduates to work in grassroots units and undeveloped areas where they were most wanted.

With an average 10 percent annual economic growth over the past two decades, China was no longer able to accommodate surplus labor, with the official unemployment rate standing at 4.1 percent in the first nine months.

The demand for college graduates was down by 22 percent in 24 provinces and 15 major cities from last year, said a report issued by the Ministry of Personnel in March.

A survey showed 52.14 percent of bachelors considered lack of social experience as the biggest obstacle in finding work.

Colleges and universities should organize internships to prepare students for employment, said Lin Zeyan, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, at a forum this month.

The country needed to develop the service sector and promote small and medium sized enterprises to create more jobs, said Mo Rong, deputy chief of the Labor Science Research Institute of the ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2006)