Recent grads eye work in smaller cities

While large cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou still dominate the list of places most recent graduates hope to work in, smaller cities have grown increasingly attractive to those just entering the educated workforce.

A report called "China Annual Best Employer (2012)" jointly released by Peking University and zhaopin.com, showed that last year 42.1 percent of college graduates hoped to find a job in a first-tier city, while in 2011 the figure was 53.8 percent, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency on Saturday.

"Reports on how difficult life is for graduates in Beijing make me worried. Since I don't have hukou (household registration) there, I think it would be better to work in a smaller city," Tian Rong, a senior student at Xi'an International Studies University, told the Global Times.

"As long as one finds an ideal job, I don't think the place really matters," said Fang Xing, another 2013 graduate.

Experts contend that the draw of first-tier cities is not as strong as previously thought.

"Many graduates want to work in cities they are familiar with, such as where they studied or grew up," Wang Hongcai, director of the Institute of Education at Xiamen University, told the Global Times.

"In recent years, provinces including Shaanxi have come up with policies to attract graduates to cities beyond the first-tier league," LüYang, an education reporter with the Shaanxi Daily, told the Global Times.

Wang sees the migration into second- and third-tier cities as a good trend, as it can balance the development in different regions and bring progress to the whole society. However, he also noted that this may somewhat undermine the development of large cities.

"This trend might take away some talents from these first-tier cities and hence affect their development," Wang said.