Graduates in China face a challenging employment market, and developing applicable skills is becoming more important. This year, 11.58 million students graduated, which is remarkable considering the present growth in youth unemployment.

Due to job creation not keeping pace with graduation growth, the graduate labour market is under unprecedented stress. Real estate, entertainment, and education, formerly major employers of young people, are now shrinking due to rapid technological improvements and economic upheaval.

Furthermore, the number of overseas Chinese graduates who returned to China increased by 8.6% in 2022 over the previous year, indicating the urgent need to strategically revise the employability skills being provided to Chinese overseas graduates in order to make them more competitive in the job market.

In response, the Chinese government has started initiatives to find graduates low-skilled temporary jobs, and a separate initiative seeks to provide 1 million internships from state-owned and private enterprises this year. Furthermore, China has also somewhat relaxed regulations within the tech, property, and finance industries in order to encourage more graduate jobs. Nonetheless, official government media streams are currently encouraging new graduates towards lower-skilled occupations.

What this means for the UK education sector

Though Chinese employers value a UK education highly (see recent study by researchers at the University of Sheffield exploring the impact of studying in the UK on employability for Chinese students), there may be more that can be done to assist Chinese graduates studying abroad in finding employment in an increasingly challenging job market when they return home. This could involve ensuring that the curriculum is more closely aligned with the practical demands of the Chinese labour market, enhancing digital literacy, and providing more suitable internships and career services for Chinese students. 

Sources

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202311/11/WS654ed25ca31090682a5edace.html

Https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/international-students-in-the-uk-perspectives-from-chinese-employers-and-alumni

Https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-09-22/rich-chinese-students-eschew-harvard-us-colleges-for-home?leadSource=uverify%20wall

Https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinese-graduates-hold-off-career-dreams-take-temporary-government-jobs-2023-11-14/