BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Private enterprises appear to be more attractive to graduates of China's top universities, compared with previously popular state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the job market, according to China Youth Daily.

An article in the newspaper's Monday edition said that 19 Chinese universities on a list of 42 universities recognized as the country's "first-class universities" have made public the rates of their 2018 graduates employed by the private sector and SOEs.

For 17 of them, the number of graduates who chose to work in private enterprises exceeded the number who went to SOE employers.

Based on employment statistics of 2018 graduates from over 30 of the top universities, the article also found that big cities no longer dominate the graduates' first choices.

About half of the graduates from Beijing-based top universities chose not to work in Beijing, according to six such universities.

The less-developed western areas are attracting more graduates than they used to, especially among those who had studied in universities in or near such areas.

Also, more graduates and university students are considering to work for employers at the grassroots level.

A total of 26 top universities published employers' satisfaction rates about their graduates, and all the figures stood above 90 percent.