CHINA PLASTIC SURGERY GRADUATES Chinese graduates looking for work in a crowded job market are taking to cosmetic proceedures to improve their chances. China now performs 1.3 million plastic surgery operations every year, many of them to westernise people's appearances. Here in the modern clinic of Bioscor International in Beijing operations take place every day. But these aren't medical, these are purely aesthetic. This is one of many centres offering cosmetic procedures in a country becoming increasingly concerned with the way it looks. China now performs more plastic surgery operations than any other country in the world, except for the US and Brazil. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 1.3 million licensed operations were recorded in China in 2010, with many more carried out illegally . But the motivations to go under the knife aren't always skin-deep. CEO of Bioscor International, Dr. Amanda Ong, says the number of young Chinese graduates visiting the company's China-based clinics has risen each year. She says job market pressures are certainly a factor and that undergoing plastic surgery can be an advantage. "I think that in this day and age, where it is definitely more competitive, and people are getting more educated to get the sort of top jobs and higher positions, it's really based on everything: education and, unfortunately, looks, but that's the way it is. So I think it definitely is becoming a focus in this day and age to get that one step forward, to set yourself apart from others," says Ong. School's out, and college campuses have settled into an eerie state of calm. But that's not likely to be felt outside the university gates. An estimated 6.8 million new graduates in the country are bracing themselves for the rat race - finding work in the world's largest competitive job market. The outlook is grim: despite China's registered urban unemployment rate hovers just over four percent, one quarter of last year's college graduates were not able to find jobs. 22-year-old Cai Zizhang says he is already nervous about the competition - both new and old - and that has left many feeling self-conscious. "I'm nervous about employment. If you graduate and you're not pursuing a Masters degree, then you have to find a job. We are up against people in the workforce already, so there will be a lot of pressure," he says. 19-year-old Zhong Zuojun hasn't graduated yet - but thinks that looks are the key to getting ahead. "I think if you are prettier, you will get more opportunities. People will like you more," she says. China's labour laws do not prohibit discrimination based on appearance, so many employers and popular job portals will openly ask for height, weight, and other physical descriptions and even require a photo to accompany a CV. With that in mind, 23-year-old Dong Yiang, like many other graduates looking for a competitive edge, turned to plastic surgery after she graduated. "I wanted to be more beautiful, to gain more confidence, and to see what it was like," she says. Yiang paid for a dermal filler, or what is often described as a liquid nose job, to create a more pronounced nose. She says price was a factor - she had hers done at a beauty clinic next to her university and paid 2,800 yuan (440 USD), instead of a nearby hospital's asking price of 8,000 yuan (1,255 USD). But the results aren't always what the client might expect. "At first, the injection made me look like something from "Avatar". Because it was a beauty clinic, rather than a hospital, it was much cheaper. That's why I had it done," says Yiang. Yiang's nose filler, which was intended to last for half a year, has already started to subside. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3bf541f8ec71e64219b1380dddea0e18 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 31 Jul 2015
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