New college graduates from Hubei universities and those from Hubei province, the Chinese region hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, have enjoyed a stable employment situation this year, a senior education official said on Monday.

Universities in Hubei saw 449,000 students graduate this year, while 371,000 students from Hubei graduated from universities in other provincial-level regions, Wang Hui, director of the Ministry of Education's department of college students affairs, told a news conference in Beijing.

With boosting the employment of such graduates a priority, he said the ministry had adopted a series of special measures this year, including allocating them extra positions in the public sector.

Universities around the country have established one-on-one support mechanisms with 124 Hubei universities by sharing employment information and offering employment guidance, he said, adding that the mechanisms helped 13,000 Hubei university graduates find jobs.

Local governments and universities in other provincial-level regions have been required to keep records on all graduates from Hubei and offer them targeted employment guidance, Wang added.