GUANGZHOU -?Demand for new employees in south China's Guangdong Province increased after the Spring Festival vacation, when migrant workers return to their hometowns for the holiday.

The first job fair in Guangzhou, capital of the industrial province of Guangdong, started Monday with nearly 4,000 posts on offer from more than 180 companies in the Pearl River delta region.

Of the total, nearly 20 percent were opportunities in the wholesale and retail industry, evidence of a sound market environment for retail trade, an official with the job fair said.

It was followed by vacancies offered by traditional manufacturing industries. The general demand for labor in the sector has fallen in recent years as manufacturing industries move inland areas to reduce costs.

Jobs in the emerging industries, such as computer and software, accounted for 11 percent of all the opportunities on offer, double the same period last year.

"It is not easy to hire after the Spring Festival because people are scattered," said Zou Daosheng, chairman of a Hunan-based health product firm that plans to establish a marketing team in Guangzhou.

Guangzhou will hold more job fairs in the following two months, offering more than 100,000 posts from about 5,000 companies.

Companies in Guangdong often face a labor shortage after Spring Festival when people move cities or stay in their hometown.

The province needed more than 8 million workers in the first three quarters of 2016.