CHINA SEEKS TO ADDRESS UNEMPLOYMENT.

SHANGHAI, Jan 2 Asia Pulse - 23-year-old Du Xin idled the last day of the year 2005 in a dormitory of the Fudan University in Shanghai, waiting eagerly for possible employers to call and invite him to an interview.

Du came to Shanghai, one of China's economic powerhouses, to look for a job as a senior in a faraway university in northeast China. He has attended four job fairs, handed out 15 applications and sent 24 e-mails to seek a job in the past week. Unfortunately, all of his efforts were in vain.

"I came to Shanghai to try my fortune," Du said with a forced smile. "College graduates are under severe employment pressure this year. It will be more possible for me to win a lottery than to get a satisfactory job."

Once destined to have a good job, college students are now under growing employment pressure. In 2005, 3.38 million students graduated from colleges and universities, a 20 per cent increase from in 2004, while education authorities estimate 4 million college graduates in 2006.

Those who will seek jobs in 2006 also include 2.7 million graduates from secondary vocational schools, 2.1 million graduates from middle and high schools, 700,000 ex-servicemen, 2.6 million former rural residents who now have urban registered permanent residences, 1 million laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises yet to be placed and 8.4 million registered unemployed people.

The pressure of employment, especially for youngsters, is unlikely to decrease in the coming five years, said Mo Rong, deputy director of the Institute of Labor Science of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

Governments at various levels are playing a more active role in promoting employment. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, China will create 9 million jobs in 2006 and resettle 5 million ...