BEIJING — China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are set to recruit more university and college graduates this year amid efforts to bolster employment, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The commission, at a recent meeting on graduate employment, urged all centrally-administered SOEs and local departments to expand their current recruitment and talent pool to create more job opportunities.

While strengthening online and offline recruitment, these SOEs should launch their summer recruitment drives as soon as possible, the commission said.

China is expected to see a record 10.76 million new graduates from the country's universities and colleges in 2022, marking a year-on-year increase of 1.67 million.

College graduates are deemed a key target of the country's employment-first policy. China has launched a series of pro-employment campaigns to move job interviews online, incentivize firms to increase their employees and open the doors of big cities wider to college graduates.