Tsinghua University, a research university in Beijing, reported the highest rate of graduate employment for 2013, followed by Peking University, the Guangzhou Daily reported on Thursday.

Based on the annual reports on graduate employment for 2013 released by the two top universities in Beijing, Tsinghua's overall employment rate last year was 98.5 percent while Peking's overall employment rate was 97.44 percent.

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Tsinghua's PhD graduates' employment rate was highest at 99.1 percent. Its bachelor's and master's employment rates also showed impressive figures at 98.1 percent and 98.5 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, Peking University's master's employment rate was highest at 97.9 percent, followed by bachelor's employment rate at 97.4 percent and PhD's employment rate at 96.5 percent.

Tsinghua University had 6,645 graduates while Peking University had 9,071 graduates last year, the report said.

At least 44 percent of graduates from Tsinghua University preferred working in state-owned enterprises and institutions. Among the enterprises are State Grid Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and China Construction Corporation.

In contrast, 70 percent of graduates from Peking University went on to sign labor contracts with educational as well as other institutions, with just five percent choosing to work in private firms.

According to Tsinghua, some 81 percent of its bachelor graduates are pursuing a master's degree, with more than half of them choosing to stay and study in China while some 27 percent chose to go abroad.

Meanwhile, recent studies also showed that majority of university graduates in China prefer to work in Shanghai rather than in Beijing, partly due to the capital's air pollution problem.

University graduates also pick Shanghai over Beijing because Shanghai is "more open" and less congested than the capital city.