Zhu Yan, when asked to reflect on his job hunt after graduating this year from Jiangsu University in East China, shook his head.

"It was torture," Zhu, 22, said with a sigh.

"Some employers simply toss your CV into the dustbin when they find out you're a recent graduate. No one cares enough to talk to you."

In the past six months, Zhu, a marketing major, said he has sent out more than 300 CVs, but fewer than 10 per cent of the companies have even responded.

"The public job fairs have shut the door on us new graduates," he said. "Most jobs require at least two years' experience."

Zhu said he thinks the reason he has failed to find a job related to his major is "simply a lack of contacts," something that is more usually gained through work experience and therefore beyond the reach of someone fresh out of college.

Another story: A 25-year-old woman surnamed Xiao was expecting to find a decent job after completing her master's degree at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou. She believed she had learnt the lessons of three years ago when lack of experience had counted against her. To her astonishment, she has found she is still unqualified this year.

The reason? Xiao says her problem is that she's not a party animal, one of the key skills required by a company.

"They refused me squarely just because of that," she said.

These two people see what they're experiencing as a kind of job discrimination, and they're not alone. A survey of more than 5,000 people nationwide by China Job Online, a human resource website, found that 90 per cent of jobseekers claim to have encountered discrimination. More than half, 51 per cent, said they were rejected for lack of special experience, 18 per cent for their appearance and 10 per cent on grounds of age.

"The fundamental reason for discrimination lies in China's labour market, where human resources are superabundant," said Wang Quanxing, a Hunan University law professor.

Increasing higher education enrolment since 1999 has created an increasingly bleak picture for graduates, and as more and more talents swarm toward a lower demand of white-collar jobs,

"Employers get to call the shots," Wang said.

For instance, a leading battery manufacturer requires at least one year of work experience for all its office vacancies.

Lau Liping, a manager of the company, says she excluded recent graduates not for their lack of experience but for their "grandiose aims but puny abilities."

"They are reluctant to start with the basics," Lau said.

New graduates' mobility is another headache. Lau says she enrolled four new graduates, but all left within a year.

"They take the job as their springboard," Lau said. "Ridiculous, isn't it? We are training staff for other companies.

"By contrast, people with work experience know it's not easy to find a job and cherish the opportunity at hand."

Money is another concern. "In face of the fierce competition, we expect newcomers to exert their expertise soon after they join the company," Lau said. "In that way, we can reduce costs."

Such tough requirements are seen in the private sector, in State-owned enterprises and even government bodies. Economic Information Daily reported that 99 of the 132 civil service positions in the Tianjin municipal government require "more than two years of grass-roots work experience."

While such discrimination has occasionally been noted and questioned, Chinese have long accepted it as a matter of course or something they could do little to change. Eighty-five per cent of respondents expressed acceptance or helplessness, and only 2 per cent resorted to the law to maintain their equal employment rights, the China Job Online survey indicated.

But even those 2 per cent who challenge the system have few places to turn to get justice against discriminatory practices.

China's Labour Law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, nationality, gender or religious belief.

But even if a court acknowledges discrimination, there are no provisions in the law for a penalty, and so the practice continues.

The employment promotion law, proposed for years, is expected to be deliberated this year by the National People's Congress. The focus of the draft is on ending discrimination against age, gender or one's permanent residence.

But problems remain. One of them is that "the government claims that employment discrimination cannot be handled well without a clear legal definition," said Yang Fei, a law scholar at Renmin University of China in Beijing. "That's the biggest hurdle we face in real practice.

"What's more, we do not have in place any independent organizations with anti-discrimination duties that involve both investigation and punishment. That's a big problem."

Yang cites the Equal Opportunities Commission in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which is entitled to investigate discriminatory practice even without an accusation from any individual involved.

But even though laws and a mechanism are indispensable, they are not omnipotent. "The most crucial thing is a wider public understanding of their individual rights," says Cai Dingjian, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law.

"While the scholars are earnestly pushing for legislation against discrimination, the victims themselves choose to remain silent or even don't realize that job discrimination is an infringement of their rights."

Current graduates, still focused on finding a job, can't be bothered with challenging the system. Many of them have no choice but to follow the beaten track.

A Nanjing University student with the surname Yu is working as an intern at a Beijing-based TV station in the hope of "adding some weight" to his CV.

"Train tickets, rent, transport fees and food. I've paid more than 3,000 yuan (US$370) for this non-paying job and have learnt hardly anything," he said. "There are so many interns like me who come twice a week, idling through a whole day without much to do."

"I know it's a long way off being a wise investment. But if I want to get a foothold in the next job-hunting season, it's the only choice.