Ma Yali, 22, a computer science student who visited the fair, said she wants to go to Wuhan after graduation. "There are many high-tech enterprises in Wuhan, and some preferential policies to support graduates' entrepreneurship. I think Wuhan is more suitable for my future."

Golden Bridge Science and Technology, a Wuhan-based big data research services provider, offered over 20 jobs at the Beijing fair.

"We hope to recruit talent from Beijing and other first-tier cities where universities and research institutes abound. The quality of human resources at such places is higher compared with other cities. Skilled people's needs like housing and kids' education will be taken care of in Wuhan," said Yang Min, the company's outreach manager.

Yang Hua, in her mid-thirties, was born in Wuhan. Married and intending to have her first baby sooner, she recently quit her job of several years as a software programmer at an IT company in Beijing.

She plans to return to Wuhan. "My husband and I had planned to buy an apartment in Beijing, but our savings were enough to afford only down payment of a one-room apartment, far away from the city center. We also needed to spend over 10,000 yuan each month on mortgage. The pressure on us was just too much."

What made matters worse was that the couple did not possess a Beijing household residency registration, known as hukou. Without it, their kids' education in future might have been a problem.