Beijing's municipal government has planned to offer about 80,000 job vacancies next month to local university graduates who fail to find working places.

However, those job offers will be available only to graduates who hold a Beijing permanent residence permit, the municipal bureau of personnel was quoted as saying by the China Daily on Wednesday.

As an effort to cope with the global economic downturn, the bureau requires job hunters to register at related departments in Beijing's 18 districts and counties, who will match them with suitable employers, said Lu Lin, director of the bureau's college graduate employment department.

At least 210,000 local college graduates are expected to enter the job market this year, 14,000 more than last year, according to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission. More than 90,000 of them will hold such kind of residence permit.

"If the district or county does not have a suitable position to match the graduates, the authorities should recommend the graduates to other districts or counties," said Lu.

Beijing authorities will offer 80,000 job vacancies for the graduates through 150 career fairs in the next month, the official said.

The municipal education commission has said Beijing will hire college graduates as community assistants starting this year to encourage them to work at the grassroots level.

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2009)