BEIJING - China will hire 32,000 college graduates this year for community-level posts in education, agriculture, health care and poverty relief, authorities said.

The figure is up by 5,000 from last year, as the country pledged stronger fiscal support for the recruitment in a circular jointly released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance.

The circular called for more posts for college graduates in areas of extreme poverty, as well as in regions hard hit by COVID-19.

China will give priority to stabilizing employment and ensuring living standards this year, and will ensure the elimination of poverty among all rural residents living below the current poverty line and in all poor counties, according to a government work report.