Sun Guiming, an ex-convict, could hardly contain his excitement at landing a job on Monday.
Released in November, after serving 17 years in prison, the 34-year-old signed a contract with an ocean transportation company and will be sent overseas to help with salvage and hauling.
Nine other former inmates, from Shanxi and Shandong provinces and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, also secured jobs with the shipping company.
The 10 ex-convicts are among the first group to receive assistance from a government-funded program by the Education Development Center under China National Committee for the Well-being of the Youth, which aims to help millions of former prisoners like Sun to find jobs and better re-enter society.
"While I was serving time in jail, I never imagined I would ever find a job," said Sun, who was convicted of murder at the age of 17, adding that the four-month job hunt was a memory "too bitter to bear".
"I was very young when I killed a man on impulse. I didn't know what I could do and was afraid that nobody would want to hire me."
When the job search seemed hopeless, Sun met Wang Jie, a man from North China's Shanxi province, who started a website in 2005 to help ex-inmates find work.
Wang, owner of a camera store, developed the website after experiencing the difficulty of helping his classmate, a former prisoner, find a job. Wang said the website has helped at least 1,200 former prisoners get a job.
Nine enterprises sign employment letters of intent with 73 prisoners who will soon be released after serving their full sentences during a job fair organized by Sanmenxia Prison in Central China's Henan province in November. Prisoners could obtain professional certificates after taking vocational skills training class in the prison. Photo: Xinhua
