A large-scale job fair at the first Three Gorges Talent Festival in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality attracts many job seekers, on May 14, 2023. Photo: VCG

China in the second half of the year will vigorously promote the employment of young people, especially college graduates, whose number will reach a record high of 11.58 million in 2023, putting the group under greater pressure to find jobs.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) said that it will strengthen pairing assistance for graduates encountering difficulties and young people who have been unemployed for a long time to help them find jobs as soon as possible, MOHRSS said on Friday during a press conference.

At the same time, the employment of college graduates in 2024 will be planned and deployed in advance, the ministry stressed.

"The political and economic situation in the world is complicated, and the foundation for sustained recovery and development of the domestic economy is still shaky. Some entities face more difficulties, and some workers, especially young people such as college graduates, are still facing greater pressure to find a job," Chen Yongjia, the vice-director of employment promotion department at MOHRSS, said at the press conference.

Since the beginning of the year, the State Council, ministries and provincial governments have introduced a series of policies to promote employment.

In 2023, MOHRSS implemented a plan to promote employment and entrepreneurship for college graduates and other young people and launched ten special actions to vigorously promote the employment of young people, such as college graduates.

By the end of June, a total of 683,000 trainee positions were created with 519,000 college students participating, said the ministry.

The State Council in May set a target of creating 1 million trainee positions for young people. Enterprises that provide these positions will be given subsidies.

The country's top economic planner said on Tuesday that it will expand employment opportunities for young people and fully unleash their vitality in innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Ministry of Education also said in early July that it will guide colleges and universities to improve the matching of recruitment supply and demand.

Analysts pointed out that stabilizing employment will mutually reinforce consumption and economic development.

The country should increase the training and guidance of young talent and thus promote their employment and entrepreneurship, Hong Yong, an expert at the digital real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Friday.

"The drop in the unemployment rate in June can be seen as a sign that the employment policies released are starting to work. Unemployment is expected to fall further in the second half of the year," said Hong.

According to MOHRSS, the surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in June, lower than the expected figure. Meanwhile, 6.78 million new urban jobs were created in China in the first half of 2023, meeting 57 percent of its annual target.

In June, the unemployment rate of urban workers aged 25-59 was 4.1 percent, lower than the pre-pandemic level in 2019.

"The reading is below the historical average of 4.64 percent. The unemployment rate of young people fully shows that the group is the focus and beneficiary of China's recent macro employment policies," Chen Jia, an independent analyst, told the Global Times on Friday.

"The effectiveness of China's employment stabilization policy in the past six months is still being released and optimized," said Chen Jia.

"As the economy continues to stabilize and improve, its ability to support employment continues to increase, and the effectiveness of policies to stabilize employment is gradually released, the employment situation will continue to remain stable," said Chen Yongjia.

Hong also noted that it is necessary to continuously increase efforts to stabilize employment policies, ensure the overall stability of employment, and actively promote economic development, so as to achieve a virtuous circle of employment and the economy.