Premier Li Keqiang urges students to be innovative in job-hunting during his visit to Lanzhou University, Gansu province, on Aug 18, 2013. [Photo by Tang Mingming/for China Daily]

Chinese students with a pioneering spirit can now defer their studies to start their own business, in a move by the education ministry to deal with the?record number of college graduates due next year.

China will see 7.49 million people graduate from college next year, 220,000 more than the number last year. Helping them find a job is a tremendous challenge.

The Education Ministry has found measures to cope with the unprecedented number of graduates. In a notice published on Wednesday, it called on colleges to offer a more flexible schooling system, allowing students to suspend their studies to pursue business opportunities off campus.

Schools are required to offer courses on entrepreneurship that award academic credit and invite entrepreneurs, business owners, academics and investors to share their expertise with students.

The ministry said?it?would?roll out favorable polices, including entrepreneurship training, business registration, capital raising and tax reduction, for students to start their own business.

Students were also encouraged to open online shops and they would be supported by financial institutes, non-government organizations, associations and other companies.

Graduate employment has been the concern of government leadership as the number of students hunting for a job keeps growing.

On a visit to an innovation center in Tianjin last year, Premier Li Keqiang encouraged young talents to embrace innovation and follow the footsteps of successful entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

In April, Li Keqiang chaired a State Council meeting which rolled out a series of favorable polices for young entrepreneurs, including offering subsidies to self-employed graduates within two years after graduation.