Liu Chunfang, who is about to graduate from Hunan University of Medicine, stayed in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, last month for a job interview with a city hospital.

"I lived in an apartment known as a talent hostel for fresh college graduates," Liu said.

The hostel, in Zhuhai's Jida commercial area, provides up to seven days' free housing to fresh college graduates visiting the city to find jobs.

More such housing services and preferential policies will be extended to college graduates by Guangdong province, an economic powerhouse in South China, as the local authorities look to attract more young workers.

The Guangdong provincial committee of the Communist Youth League, in cooperation with the provincial housing and urban-rural development authority, recently released a plan to provide housing services for fresh college graduates.

"For most young talent, especially fresh graduates, finding a place to live is very essential when they are willing to work in Guangdong," said Guo Zhuangshi, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Housing and Urban-Rural Development Department.

Guangdong has provided more than 150,000 public rental housing apartments for talented young people who have just started working in the province, the department said.

By 2022, at least 20 percent of new housing in nine cities in the prosperous Pearl River Delta region should target fresh college graduates and overseas students, according to the plan.

"We will accelerate construction of housing for talent and public rental housing," Guo said.

According to the plan, the province will develop more talent hostels to provide free accommodation for at least seven days for fresh graduates visiting Guangdong to find jobs.

Guo said Guangdong will continue to issue more preferential housing policies to attract young talent to work in the province, including lowering household registration and social security thresholds.

In the Huangpu district of Guangzhou, Guangdong's capital, talented young people without local household registration are allowed to purchase apartments after they have worked in the district for half a year.

"We will provide more housing services for young talent, to allow them to live and work in peace and contentment in the province, as housing has become a big issue for them," Guo said.