The Chinese government's decision to reduce the number of academic master's degrees awarded by universities is a welcome change for students concerned about their job prospects.

The Ministry of Education has recently asked universities to reduce enrolments of academic or research master's programs by 5-10 percent. Instead, they may offer the places to students who want to study for professional master's degrees.

At the moment, China's graduate schools award predominantly academic master's degrees, with only 15 types of professional master's degrees such as MBA or a clinical master's degree.