BEIJING, Sep 26: China has maintained a generally stable employment situation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), with continuous improvements in employment structure and quality, Wang Xiaoping, minister of human resources and social security, said at a press conference on Friday.
As of the end of August, a total of 59.21 million new urban jobs had been created since the beginning of the period, surpassing the target of 55 million.
Facing evolving domestic and international conditions, China has introduced a series of policies to stabilize employment. More than 470 billion yuan (about $66 billion) in employment subsidies have been distributed, along with 138.9 billion yuan in job stabilization funds. The average surveyed urban unemployment rate over the past four years was 5.3 percent, lower than the control target of 5.5 percent.
Stable employment has provided strong support for maintaining overall economic and social stability, Wang said.
China has also deepened reform of the social security system, building a more comprehensive social protection framework. The number of people covered by national basic pension insurance has reached 1.072 billion, an increase of more than 73 million compared with the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Coverage has risen from 91 percent to over 95 percent.
As China adapts to new demographic realities, efforts are underway to shift from a population dividend to a talent dividend, Wang noted.
Reform of talent development mechanisms is also advancing. Subsidized vocational skills training has been provided to 92 million individuals, with 72 new occupations introduced and 328 national occupational standards issued to spur innovation and entrepreneurship.
So far, China has over 80 million professional technical personnel. The number of skilled workers has surpassed 220 million, including more than 72 million in high-skilled professions.
This growing talent pool is providing “a solid talent foundation for promoting high-level technological self-reliance and building a modern industrial system,” Wang said.
