Four big job fairs opened in Beijing at weekend, with thousands of vacancies. Most positions require years of relevant work experience, but most of the job seekers won't graduate until June.

Three of the four job fairs are those with at least a master's degree or special skills. Beijing Grand Talents Fair, the largest job market held every year in the capital, opened Saturday morning in the International Exhibition Center with medical workers and police officers standing on guard.

By Saturday noon, the 27,000-square-meter center had seen more than 60,000 job seekers and a total of 80,000 were expected to compete for over 35,000 posts provided by 1,700 companies and public institutions during the two-day event, according to the fair organizer.

Nearly 3 million students will graduate from universities and colleges across China this year, an increase of about one-third over last year. The increased competition means the class of 2004 has to work harder to land a job. For fairs like these, it's an employer's market.

On Saturday, China unveiled its professional and modernized employment service for the country's professionals and skilled workers.

It will be open to all well-trained people, mostly high- and medium-level caliber professionals and skilled people across the country, and those seeking to employ them, including departments of the central government and its institutions. The service was designed to facilitate free flow of human resources across the country, said a spokesman.

(Xinhua and CCTV February 15, 2004)