Central China’s Hubei province is relaxing one of the country’s most distinctive job market rules by expanding the official definition of “fresh graduate,” a status that governs eligibility for public sector jobs and key social benefits.

Part of a broader national effort to ease pressure on young jobseekers, the policy requires employers to consider anyone within two years of graduation as a fresh graduate, regardless of whether they have signed an employment contract or contributed to social security.

In China, “fresh graduate,” or yingjiesheng, is an official classification used by employers and government agencies. Under previous rules, graduates would lose this status early if they signed a job contract or made social security payments within the two-year window.

Introduced in the mid-1990s after China ended its state-guaranteed job assignment system, the designation has long provided privileged access to government and other high-demand positions. In the 2025 national civil service exam, 67% of the 39,700 available positions were reserved for fresh graduates.

Fresh graduates are also often eligible for government assistance in obtaining a local household registration, or “hukou,” which grants access to local benefits such as healthcare, education, and property ownership. In cities like Shanghai, top performing graduates from leading universities can qualify for direct hukou access through an expedited “green channel.”

But the designation can also be a constraint, causing students vying for competitive entry-level jobs to delay graduation, avoid signing job contracts or paying social security, and prolong their status as fresh graduates. 

A 2023 survey by domestic media outlet China Youth Daily found that over 70% of respondents knew students who deliberately delayed graduation, with over 40% reportedly doing so to retain their fresh graduate status. 

Hubei’s policy is the latest in a growing series of local reforms aimed at relaxing the rules around fresh graduate eligibility.

Last year, a wave of local governments — including in Shanghai, as well as eastern Shandong and central Hunan provinces — began allowing students who had left school two to three years earlier, regardless of work history or social security enrollment, to apply for public sector jobs typically reserved for new graduates.

Then, in January, China’s southwestern Sichuan province expanded the term to include all graduates within two years of graduation. The following month, China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region extended eligibility even further, allowing graduates up to three years out of school to apply for these roles. 

Xiong Bingqi, director of the China-based think tank 21st Century Education Research Institute, told Sixth Tone that he supports the recent provincial reforms, advocating that employers shift their focus away from the fresh graduate label.

“We should recognize and support young people’s individual paths, value competence over graduation time, and create an environment of equal employment competition for all young people,” he said.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: VCG)