The "toughest year for job seekers", which the country's graduates face, calls for workable measures to translate the authorities' commitment to ensuring the graduate employment rate remains the same as last year into concrete actions.

A record 6.99 million students will graduate in China this year, an increase of 2.8 percent year-on-year. However, the number of available jobs offered by employers has declined by around 10 to 15 percent. The gloomier employment situation, exacerbated by the continuing economic deceleration, underscores the need for greater multi-departmental efforts and coordination to expand employment channels.

A notice issued by the Ministry of Education on Tuesday has prescribed a variety of recipes, including better implementation of grassroots employment projects, encouraging more graduates to enlist in the military or to act as scientific research assistants, and holding better-targeted job fairs.