China's Minister of Civil Affairs Lu Zhiyuan, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Wang Xiaoping, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong, and head of the National Health Commission Lei Haichao attend a press conference on people's livelihood for the third session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 9, 2025. Photo: VCG

China's employment situation this year is expected to maintain overall stability with improvements, despite the challenging task of creating more jobs, Wang Xiaoping, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security said in Beijing on Sunday.

Wang told a press conference on people's livelihood for the third session of the 14th National People's Congress that, from the first two months of the year, the post-Spring Festival resumption of work and production has accelerated, with migrant workers returning to work earlier than previous years, indicating a good start for the job market.

As China steadily advances high-quality development, the widespread application of a range of new technologies, products and scenarios, along with the continuous release of consumption potential, and the effective stimulation of various financial entities and entrepreneurial innovation, have laid a solid foundation for stabilizing and expanding the jobs market, Wang pointed out.

"We will refine employment-first policies, strengthen the coordinated funding support, and spare no efforts to stabilize employment, expand jobs growth, improve employment quality and promote employment and income growth for the country's vast workforce," Wang said.

These initiatives align with the tasks set out in this year's government work report, released on Wednesday, which commits to pursue people-oriented macro policie, including channeling more funds and resources into serving the public and meet their needs, thereby help create more jobs.

Economic growth is the key engine for job creation, Li Changan, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics said, noting that "Despite pressures in the job market, this year's two sessions highlight strong policy support for achieving this year's growth targets, which will in turn ensure confidence in maintaining stable employment."

"The policies outlined during the two sessions are set to expand new growth sectors and drive industrial transformation and upgrading to help boost job creation," Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Monday.

At Sunday's press conference, Wang pledged concrete measures, including supporting labor-intensive industries to maintain and stabilize employment during their transformation and upgrading, while also generating more job opportunities.

With the rise of new economic models such as the internet platform economy, flexible employment and entrepreneurship will become key directions, and the employment market in China will shift from traditional models to a more diverse landscape, Hu noted.

This year, China also plans to introduce more supportive policies to help college graduates and other young people to seek jobs, stabilizing social recruitment by expanding the numbers of recruits in grassroots projects while implementing a million-job internship program.

The government will roll out new initiatives to ramp up job creation in key sectors. More efforts will focus on advanced manufacturing sector, new consumption hotspots, emerging jobs and major engineering projects, and targeting rural and urban grassroots areas as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, which are expected to unlock more job opportunities, according to Wang.

Moreover, existing employment policies will be fully implemented. "Last year, the balance of special loans for employment stabilization exceeded 300 billion yuan ($42 billion), and this year, the loan quota will be increased," Wang noted.

Efforts will also be made to promote entrepreneurship-driven employment, providing entrepreneurs with low-cost, convenient, and comprehensive support, Wang said, adding that China's guaranteed loans for startups amounted to 270 billion yuan last year, and the efforts will be further intensified in 2025.

The Chinese government also acknowledged the challenges ahead. Wang note that the number of college graduates will reach 12.22 million this year, and the employment needs of people who are already lifted out of poverty remain above 30 million. 

Although the challenges to create jobs and the pressure on employment remains high, the minister emphasized that the employment situation remains generally stable and is trending positively.

This year's Government Work Report set a clear-cut target for the creation of over 12 million new urban jobs, reflecting a greater commitment to stabilizing and expanding employment.

Currently, China's employment pressure primarily stems from industrial transformation and upgrading, as well as the outward migration of labor-intensive industries, as well as 10 million plus college graduates annually, Hu said. 

However, both Hu and Li mentioned that with technological advancements and innovations in employment models, China can seize opportunities amid the challenges to achieve high-quality development in the job market.