Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, has earmarked 1 billion yuan (about 143.3 million U.S. dollars) to offer 100,000 internship positions for master's and PhD graduates, as graduates are facing unexpected employment challenges brought by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

According to the plan unveiled at a Tuesday press conference by the municipal government, qualified graduates that come to Nanjing for internships can enjoy a monthly allowance of 3,000 yuan for up to three months this year. Companies that offer jobs to interns are also rewarded with a subsidy of between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan per person.

Favorable policies have also been rolled out to support start-ups in Nanjing with their rent and loan repayments.

A total of 8.74 million students are expected to graduate from colleges this year, 400,000 more than last year, according to the Ministry of Education.

To cushion the impact of the epidemic and promote the overall stability of employment, China has outlined multi-pronged measures to support the resumption of work, facilitate the recruitment of key groups and revive labor demands by creating new forms of industry and new occupations.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 5.7 percent in June, 0.2 percentage points lower than that of May. A total of 5.64 million new urban jobs were created in the first half of 2020, achieving 62.7 percent of the annual target.