China plans to recruit 36,000 college graduates this year to be officials in rural areas in a bid to boost development in underdeveloped regions.

According to a notice issued Thursday by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, from 2008 to 2012 the nation will employ 200,000 students-turned village officials. The initial plan envisaged employing 100,000.

Villages are often said to be the "nerve endings" of the ruling CPC, and it is believed dispatching college graduates to villages will reduce unemployment and boost rural development by bringing talent to the grassroots level.

Currently, some 200,000 college graduates are working in the nation's vast rural regions as grassroots officials. They plan their villages' development and work for local residents' betterment.

The tenure for these graduates in the village is usually two or three years. After that, they may choose to continue to work as village officials, apply for becoming civil servants, pursue further study or find another job.

China started to recruit college graduates as village officials in 2008.