BEIJING - As of the end of 2011, the number of college graduates serving as grassroots village officials in China's rural areas topped 210,000, according to Sunday's People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China.

The newspaper quoted a recent report on the graduates-turned village officials, saying there will be 400,000 such officials in China by the end of 2015, and 600,000 by the end of 2020.

With 600,000 graduates-turned grassroots officials, China will be able to staff every rural village in the country with at least one college-educated official, the report said.

In recent years, China has selected volunteer college graduates to work as village officials to promote the talent pool for the country's rural grassroots administrations.

However, the report also noted that some graduates-turned young officials lacked a sound understanding of local conditions and an awareness of public sentiments.