Wuhan rolls out incentive to woo graduates

Students at a job fair in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, on March 11. [Photo/VCG]

A series of incentives, ranging from easier residency permits to lower housing prices, has been rolled out in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, to encourage college graduates to stay in the city.

Wuhan aims to attract one million graduates during the next five years to work in the city after graduation.

To support this, Wuhan is one of a few cities in China which offers graduates Hukou, or residency permits, without any limits. Graduates can also get local Hukou by submitting their graduate certificates.

Graduates, who have launched start-ups in Wuhan or worked in the city for at least three years, as well as those who have no houses registered in their names, can apply for a low-cost apartment.

Initially, the city offered 3,605 apartments for use, and those who qualify can apply for residence for a period of up to three years at most.

Chen Yixin, deputy Party chief of Hubei and Party chief of Wuhan, said when enterprises look at the investment environment of a city, human resources would be on top of the factors, according to Wuhan-based Chutian Metropolis Daily.

Chen said the city would also take measures to raise the minimum salary of university graduates.

So far, there are more than one million students from across the country studying at universities and colleagues in Wuhan.

Statistics show more than 80,000 colleague graduates chose to settle down in the city in the first half of the year, which has been an increase of 28,000 people compared to last year.

This year also had a record of 7.5 million students graduate from China's universities and colleges.

However, China's first-tier cities, mainly Beijing and Shanghai, have tightened control on residency permit policies, fearing an excessive influx of students from other areas would put pressure on local resources.