Sixty-seven percent of companies in the eastern province of Jiangsu expect to have difficulty recruiting new workers this spring, a survey showed Thursday.

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This highlights worsening labor shortages in the rich coastal regions as China's economy continues to boom, according to the survey released by the Jiangsu Provincial Labor and Employment Management Center.

Demand for labor has returned to pre-financial crisis levels, it said. Each company planned to hire 175 new workers on average, double the amount companies planned to recruit at the beginning of last year.