Job hunt especially critical for graduates with student loans

About 7.27 million college students are graduating this year, an increase of 280,000 from 2013, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security

Ministry calls for reports on graduate employment

Shanghai top spot for graduates

This has made competition for jobs even tougher. According to media reports in Shanghai, among the 168,000 graduates in the city, only 1 in 5 have found a job so far.

Zhou Xinyi, a sophomore at Sun Yat-sen University, said that perhaps one of the reasons that many graduates have not received an offer is because some have salary expectations that are too high.

The average monthly income for graduates in 2013 was 3,378 yuan, according to surveys.

For some students, pursuing postgraduate studies might be a way to avoid the strong job competition.

Hu Ruishuang, a student at Beihang University in Beijing, said she has been on a student loan of 6,000 yuan ($950) each year since 2010.

"About a quarter of students in my class also study on bank loans," she said.

"But I will continue to study for a postgraduate degree at Beihang University after graduation, which means I can start to pay back the loans two years later."

China's top 10 cities for salaries	Graduates pick work instead of taking advanced degrees