By Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief

BEIJING, CHINA: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and undergraduate Tian Hongtao are obsessing about the same thing these days - jobs.

But while grey-haired Mr Wen is having headaches finding jobs for 6.1 million fresh graduates who will enter the labour market this year, Mr Tian, 23, is stressed with getting just one.

Despite hunting for employment in Beijing over the last fortnight, the economics student from Northeastern Agricultural University in Harbin had nothing to show for it, he told The Straits Times at a recent job fair.

'You name it, I have tried it. Posting resumes online, tapping contacts and attending these fairs,' he said. 'But no one has even called me for an interview so far. There are just too many graduates.'

University students in China often start applying for jobs eight to nine months ahead of graduation.

This year, graduates like Mr Tian will be facing even stiffer competition, as they leave their campuses amid the worst global financial crisis since the 1930s.

It means an even more daunting task for China, which already finds it a challenge to help millions of graduates land jobs every year.

According to a recent report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a quarter of this year's batch are likely to have problems finding a job.

Their seniors have already been having a tough time. Only 70 per cent of last year's batch of 5.6 million graduates had found work by August, and most of the remaining 1.5 million are likely to have entered the new year unemployed.

The unemployment rate for new graduates is believed to be over 9 per cent - twice the registered rate. It is a problem that has been snowballing since the late 1990s, when public universities here underwent rapid expansion and the government opened up varsity places to improve skills and boost consumption.

In 2002, there were only 1.5 million graduates in China. That figure has since jumped fourfold. The resulting supply glut has kept wages of fresh graduates stagnant at about 1,500 yuan (S$325) per month in the last five years.

Even students from China's elite universities, such as Beijing and Qinghua, who used to earn higher starting salaries and were snapped up quickly, are not having an easy time now.

Archaeology student Liu Yi, 26, from Beijing University, has applied to 30 companies in various sectors, but has not received a single reply.

'In 2007, it was much easier for students to find work in an industry that was not from their field of study. Companies were willing to take you on because you're from a good school,' she said. 'But this year, it is extremely hard.'

Such anecdotes are likely to make the alarm bells ring even louder for the country's leaders. Last month, Mr Wen stressed that creating jobs for graduates and redundant migrant workers was his government's top concern.

Behind that concern lies a political angle: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is well aware that college graduates were at the forefront of the Tiananmen protests in 1989. Significantly, leaders of the demonstrations were mostly students from the top colleges, in particular Beijing University.

With unemployment rising and the 20th anniversary of the incident coming up on June 4, the CCP is acting quickly to defuse this potential bomb.

On Wednesday, the State Council introduced radical measures to solve the problem after a meeting chaired by Premier Wen, who said that the government 'must make the employment of higher education graduates a priority'.

Among others, college graduates who take jobs in the poor interior regions of the country will get a full refund of their university tuition fees - the first time the Chinese government has adopted such a move.

The refunds will be given to all who find employment in towns and villages in remote parts of China, a sweetener to lure young Chinese from the more popular, comfortable and affluent coastal provinces.

China's strict household registration system will also be lifted for the graduates to find work outside their home towns.

Those who join the People's Liberation Army will also get the refunds, and preferential tax and loan policies will be introduced for graduates who start their own businesses.

'Faced with the spreading international financial crisis, our country's employment situation is extremely grim,' said Mr Wen.

But rural sociologist Zhu Qizhen believes that the proposal will not solve unemployment woes. 'What can the graduates do in the towns and villages?' he told The Straits Times. 'Do you want them to till the land? The countryside does not need graduates at all. There are hardly any enterprises there. How are they going to find jobs?'

He added: 'It is fine for some to join the army, but with so many graduates, how many can the army take? The problem really is the oversupply of graduates.'

But even as the government worries, employers' frowns have turned into beaming smiles. The over-supply of job seekers has made it easier for them to recruit, and even given them an upper hand.

'We hope to find more talented people on more competitive wages at this time when the economy is bad,' explained IT firm Baike's manager Jiang Huan.

And while some firms still complain about fussy job seekers, there are many who are willing to work for less in far-flung places.

Said geography student Yang Xinqian, 22, from northern Shijiazhuang city: 'It doesn't matter where I work. I am from the north, but if there is any opportunity in the south, I will take it.'

A survey of more than 6,000 college students showed that nearly one in 10 was willing to work even for free for the first few months, just to get a job - any job.

According to a recent report by the Guangzhou Daily, some graduates are so desperate for employment that they are willing to work as nannies and domestic help for rich households in southern Guangdong province. It appears to be a repeat of a phenomenon seen in 2007, when graduates from the poor neighbouring region of Guangxi region signed up to be maids for the wealthy in Guangdong.

Social work graduate Jiao Fei, 24, from Inner Mongolia University, who spent 10 months job hunting, was glad to snag a job with the local government, even if it meant pocketing just 1,000 yuan a month for a year of probation.

He said: 'I'm the lucky one among my 35 classmates. Most of the others are preparing to go for a master's degree because they failed to find a decent job.'

Additional reporting by Tracy Quek and Lina Miao

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 10, 2008.