SHANGHAI, Jan. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- A 23-year-old Du Xin idled the last day of the year 2005 in a dormitory of the Fudan University in Shanghai, waiting eagerly for possible employers to call and invite him to an interview.

    Du came to Shanghai, one of China's economic powerhouses, to look for a job as a senior in a faraway university in northeast China. He has attended four job fairs, handed out 15 applications and sent 24 e-mails to seek a job in the past week. Unfortunately, all of his efforts were in vain.

    "I came to Shanghai to try my fortune," Du said with a forced smile. "College graduates are under severe employment pressure this year. It will be more possible for me to win a lottery than to get a satisfactory job."

    Once destined to have a good job, college students are now under growing employment pressure. In 2005, 3.38 million students graduated from colleges and universities, a 20-percent increase from in 2004, while education authorities estimate 4 million college graduates in 2006.

    Those who will seek jobs in 2006 also include 2.7 million graduates from secondary vocational schools, 2.1 million graduates from middle and high schools, 700,000 ex-servicemen, 2.6 million former rural residents who now have urban registered permanent residences, 1 million laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises yet to be placed and 8.4 million registered unemployed people.

    The pressure of employment, especially for youngsters, is unlikely to decrease in the coming five years, said Mo Rong, deputy director of the Institute of Labor Science of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

    Governments at various levels are playing a more active role in promoting employment. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, China will create 9 million jobs in 2006 and resettle 5 million unemployed laid-off workers, aiming to confine the registered unemployment rate in urban areas to 4.6 percent.

    Tens of thousands of people, many of whom are relatively old, lack skills and live in abject poverty, have been employed in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, thanks to jobs created by the government indirectly.

    Laid-off worker Huang Zhenhua, 48, was employed in a public security patrol organized by his neighborhood in Shanghai. He received 1,200 yuan (148 U.S. dollars) of salary earlier this week,the heftiest one since he was laid off 10 years ago.

    China has been fostering the diversification of education, after it realized many college graduates are not welcome by employers as they are trained under similar modes. Chinese PremierWen Jiabao announced in November that the country will invest 10 billion yuan (1.23 billion dollars) in developing vocational education, aiming to train more skilled workers for the upgrading of industries.

    "Employment is a matter of great importance that concerns social stability, economic and social sustainable development," said Li Jian of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

    A large labor force makes China competitive in labor cost and attracts foreign investment. However, it also enables entrepreneurs to confine workers' salaries to a low level, leadingto further economic polarization, he said.

    The common people's consumption ability did not grow in accordance with the development of national revenue due to low-level salaries under employment pressure, so only few people can afford new technologies and products.

    "Without enough consumption ability and demand, most of the 1.3billion Chinese would only be potential consumers. A lack of market demand will make it difficult to implement China's independent innovation strategy," Li said. Enditem