University graduates talk with recruiters at a national-level joint recruitment event in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 2, 2025. A total of 517 enterprises and institutions from within and outside the region offered 13,500 job positions, covering fields such as manufacturing, chemical engineering, finance and internet technology. Photo: VCG
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Tuesday emphasized the need to prioritize employment for college graduates and other young people, stressing efforts to maintain overall stability in youth employment, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a video conference in Beijing on nationwide efforts to promote employment and entrepreneurship among college graduates and other young people.
Ding said that college graduates are a valuable resource for both the Party and the country, and that their employment and entrepreneurship, along with that of other youths, are vital to countless families. He stressed the importance of prioritizing employment for college graduates and other youth groups to ensure an overall stable level of youth employment.
Ding highlighted the need to make every effort to increase job opportunities and fully promote high-quality employment for college graduates. He stressed the importance of focusing on key sectors and industries to expand job openings and create new employment growth points through driving industrial development.
Efforts should be made to support the development of small, medium and micro-enterprises to expand job supply and stimulate their initiative in hiring college graduates, Ding said. He called for better using the comprehensive effects of policies, ensuring that all employment-promoting measures are fully implemented and introduced as early as possible.
He also emphasized the need to maintain a stable scale for policy-related jobs and to increase recruitment. Additionally, Ding urged stronger support and implementation of entrepreneurial incentive policies to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among college students, thereby driving employment.
Meanwhile, he highlighted the importance of enhancing employment guidance services and suggested prioritizing support for graduates facing difficulties. He also called for strengthening employment skills training to help graduates successfully transition from education to the workforce.
In addition, stronger oversight and data monitoring are needed to protect graduates' legal rights, foster a positive public environment and jointly address the critical issue of college graduate employment, which is vital to the nation's economy and livelihoods, according to Ding.
China's 2025 Government Work Report called for redoubled efforts to stabilize and expand employment, including targeted measures to support young people.
"We will improve services to facilitate employment and entrepreneurship. We will expand the employment and business start-up channels for college graduates and other young people, help ex-service members get resettled and employed, ensure employment for rural migrant workers and people lifted out of poverty, and increase assistance for people facing difficulties in finding jobs, such as older jobseekers, people with disabilities, and the long-term unemployed," the report said.
The number of college graduates in China is expected to reach 12.22 million in 2025, an increase of 430,000 compared with the previous year, according to Xinhua's another report.
As of February 22, a total of 34,000 recruitment events had been held nationwide, offering 24 million job openings, according to data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
Global Times
