Hard times for grads

Only about 28 percent of graduates and 37 percent of postgraduates in Beijing had signed employment contracts as of late April, according to figures from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, the Beijing Times reported.

The changes in the international and domestic economic environment are the main reasons leading to the low employment rates of Chinese graduates this year, said an official from the commission. A total of 6.99 million college students will have graduated by June in China, the highest number since 1949.