The employment rate of graduates from secondary vocational schools reached 97.91 percent in South China's Guangdong province in 2018, equivalent to the figure recorded in 2017, according to a report on analysis of the employment of secondary vocational school graduates in Guangdong province.

"That indicates Guangdong, one of the major production bases in the mainland, still needs a large number of skillful personnel to support its economic construction," the report said.

Guangdong, one of the country's economic powerhouses, has 285,334 graduates from secondary vocational schools this year, the report said. It was published by the Guangdong provincial Department of Education on Thursday.

The starting monthly salary for secondary vocation school graduates also experienced steady growth this year.

The ratio of the number of graduates whose starting salary is less than 2,000 yuan ($294.11) a month has decreased to 23.86 percent from last year's 27.01 percent.

And those whose starting salaries were between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan remained at about 46 percent, while the number of graduates who earn more than 3,000 yuan a month has grown to 29.42 percent this year from the previous year's 26.99 percent.

Graduates from judicial and service subjects recorded the highest employment rate of 99.94 percent this year. They are followed by those who graduated from petrochemical industry specialties, which has an employment rate of 99.59 percent.

Meanwhile 333 graduates have chosen overseas employment this year, the report said.

An official from the Guangdong provincial Department of Education said that with the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the increasing number of Hong Kong and Macao residents who study in Guangdong's secondary vocational schools, more and more graduates will be employed by companies in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions in the coming years.