Career fair full of graduates (file photo/Chinanews.com)

A recent employment survey has revealed 33.5 percent of new graduates from colleges and universities this year have signed contracts with employers in the country's first-tier cities: including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The survey was recently carried out by Zhilian Recruitment, one of China's biggest recruitment websites. The company surveyed 93,420 respondents, which included graduates holding master's and doctoral degrees.

An additional 33.1 percent of graduates, who took part in the survey, were expected to work in newer first-tier cities, which referred to more than 10 large metropolises including Tianjin, Qingdao, Wuhan, Nanjing and Chengdu.

A total of 14.4 percent of graduates were also willing to work in smaller cities, and an additional 19 percent of graduates expected to work in large regional cities.

While comparing the low cost of living and ever-increasing job opportunities in small and medium cities, the survey revealed graduates still preferred to live in larger municipalities due to inclusiveness and acceptance.

Graduates were also shown to earn an average monthly salary of 4,014 yuan ($582.3). However, on average, graduates with degrees in law, engineering and medicine earned 5,545 yuan, 4,512 yuan and 4,500 yuan per month respectively.