China's largest internet jobs firm has reported a 27 per cent rise in revenues from its online recruitment services in the first quarter.

Total revenues at 51job Inc for the first quarter were $33.7m, an increase of 17.9 per cent from the same quarter in 2007.

''We achieved better than expected profitability in the first quarter despite greater spending on sales and marketing activities," said Rick Yan, president and chief executive at 51job.

"We are also pleased that revenues exceeded our forecast, especially in light of public concerns regarding global economic conditions and the uncertain impact of new PRC labour regulations on recruitment budgets in China."

Online recruitment services revenues for the first quarter of 2008 grew 27.4 per cent to $11.2m.

The increase was mainly attributable to the growth in the number of employers using the company's online services, according to figures supplied by 51job.

Unique employers using the company's online recruitment services increased 25.8 per cent to 60,461 in the first quarter of 2008, compared with 48,070 in the same quarter of the prior year.

Online revenues are growing considerably faster than traditional print revenues. Print recruitment advertising revenues for the first quarter of 2008 increased 7.8 per cent compared to the same quarter a year ago to reach $17.5m.

The increase was primarily the result of a greater volume of advertisements in 51job Weekly, the company's widely distributed free newspaper.

''We view 2008 as an important year of investment for 51job and are dedicating significant resources aimed at strengthening our brand, improving customer service, developing new products and increasing efficiency," said Yan.

"We believe these efforts will enable us to extend our market leadership position and build a solid foundation for long-term growth."