Thousands of enterprises in Guangzhou will offer nearly 60,000 internship working posts to graduating students unable to find regular jobs in their final college year.

The positions will be available during the coming three years, said the labor department of Guangdong province.

About 5,000 enterprises, research institutes and academic associations will be chosen as internship bases for the graduates, said Gan Wen, director of Guangdong employment service bureau.

The program was launched in Guangzhou University on Tuesday when 48 enterprises were on campus to offer the first 831 internships, said Gan.

Students will be paid 30 yuan a day and their employers will buy their social insurance.

The internships will last for six months.

"The program is expected to help the students through a difficult period," Gan said.

Enterprises that take on more than five internship students will be awarded between 3,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan a year, he said.

Gan said more universities will join the program.

"As of April 19, about 315,000 college graduating students were still waiting for offers," said Gan.

That means only about 48,000 students had signed working contracts, he added.

The employment market for graduating students is especially hard this year because of the global economic crisis, he said.

The provincial government has decided to spend as much as 1.5 billion yuan ($220 million) this year to create posts for students and provide training.

A Science and Technology Commissioners' Action in Enterprises program, which was initiated by the provincial government and Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology last year, also began last month.

The program will select thousands of outstanding professors and experts from hundreds of universities this year to help overhaul industries.

(China Daily May 7, 2009)