The number of young jobless people in cities has risen nearly 20 per cent in the past two years amid signs of a severe unemployment situation in China, a survey has suggested.

Jobless workers aged below 35 now account for more than 60 per cent of the total, as compared with less than 50 per cent two years ago.

This was the finding of a 62-city survey conducted by the Institute for Labour Studies under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

"The younger age of the jobless serves as a major proof that the country is facing a serious labour oversupply," said Mo Rong, author of the survey report and also deputy director of the institute.

Another indication of the severity of the problem is the fact that only 70 per cent of college students can now find jobs upon graduation, in stark contrast with an almost 100 per cent record in the past, Mo said.

He said the trend will continue in the coming few years.

China recorded a registered urban unemployment rate of 3.6 per cent last year, with 6.81 million out of work.

Mo said the increasing number of new entrants to the labour market is a key factor that has led to a deterioration in the situation.

Between 2000 and 2005, the number of new job seekers entering the labour market is expected to reach 12.4 million each year.

The huge number is a result of the birth peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s before the Chinese Government introduced the family planning policy.

Moreover, Mo said, the rising number of young unemployed also highlighted a falling demand for new employees and especially the weakening job-generating capacity in many industries.

Wang Dongjin, vice-minister of labour and social security, said recently that only 8 million jobs can be created annually in the country with the current economic growth rate of 7 per cent.

The number of redundant employees and unemployed will not decrease in the next few years as more loss-making State-owned enterprises close down or go bankrupt during the process of economic restructuring, Wang said.

The government used to blame structural flaws for the worsening jobless problem, which is still taking its toll mostly on middle-aged workers with few skills and little education.

Mo, however, said the emergence of a much younger generation of unemployed people, including well-educated ones, suggests that the jobless problem is much graver.

Li Qingtang, a professor with the Capital Economic and Trade University, went further by warning that China is facing an extremely tough task of solving the jobless problem in the next 20 to 30 years.

By the year 2005, the tally of rural and urban jobless is expected to top 220 million, including 6.8 million registered urban unemployed, 5.15 million laid-off workers, 62 million newly-added jobless and 150 million surplus rural labourers.

But only 40 million jobs can be created during this period, Liu said.