Although China is expecting a  record number of university graduates in the summer of 2004,  Education Minister Zhou Ji is confident they will be offered  enough job opportunities.

Zhou said Tuesday that 2.8 million students would graduate from higher education institutions this year, 680,000 more than in 2003.

He said higher enrollments in colleges and universities since  1999 should not be blamed for current problems for graduate  unemployment.

Quality graduates were greatly welcomed by employers, he said,  but some graduates refused jobs they considered beneath them.

Meanwhile, colleges and universities should revise their  academic programs in response to the ever-changing job market.

Zhou said about 70 percent of graduates signed job contracts  last year. Many others intended to continue studying overseas.

China had 2.12 million college and university graduates last  year, 46 percent more than the previous year. Experts worried that the graduate boom since the enrollment expansion four years ago  might result in difficulties in finding jobs. In addition, the  severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak early last year  affected the job market.

However, the job market for graduates in 2003 was better than  expected, Zhou said.

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