More than half of graduates who studied in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, choose to stay in the city to seek employment in 2018, according to data released by Zhilian Recruiting, a Chinese human resources firm on June 6.

As a new first-tier city, Shenyang has enacted various preferential policies to entice new graduates, attracting students who studied at colleges in Beijing, Xi’an, Harbin, Changchun and Dalian.

52.7 percent of graduates stay in Shenyang

In 2018, 52.7 percent of respondents claimed that they had chosen to settle in Shenyang, according to a survey of 58,270 graduates who studied in the city.

The survey found 41.7 percent of graduates hold “realizing personal value” as the most important factor in finding a job. According to the survey, 26.97 percent and 23.19 percent of graduates chose “interests” and “money” respectively as most important when it came to finding a job.

The development potential of the city was cited as one of the significant reasons why graduates choose to stay and work in Shenyang.

New first-tier cities are more attractive than long-established first-tier cities

Among the graduates that Shenyang enterprises employed in 2018, graduates that studied in Shenyang accounted for 56.8 percent, making them the largest group. And graduates from colleges and universities in Beijing, Xi’an, Harbin, Changchun and Dalian represented 25 percent, according to the survey.

It’s significant that new first-tier cities like Shenyang are more appealing to graduates than long-established first-tier cities, according to analysis of the data.

“Among the cities where graduates found employment, new first-tier cities including Shenyang accounted for 34.47 percent while first-tier cities accounted for 29.29 percent,” said an employee from the recruitment firm Zhilian.

Since 2014, the number of graduates hoping to work in first-tier cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen has been falling –– a result of incentive policies adopted in new first-tier cities and by various emerging industries .

Salaries in manufacturing beat financial sector

According to data, in 2018, 25.8 percent of graduates worked in the field of information technology (IT), with an average monthly salary of 6,048 yuan ($945), the highest in Shenyang in terms of both proportion of workers and salary. The average monthly salary for graduates majoring in production, processing and manufacturing hit 5,747 yuan, second only to IT.

There is a basic balance between supply and demand in industries such as IT, culture, sports, and education. And actual employment in the traditional manufacturing industry greatly surpasses forecast employment.