Overview
- Human Resources Minister Wang Xiaoping said China can keep employment stable and sustain positive momentum over the next five years despite labour-market uncertainties.
- A record 12.7 million college graduates are entering the workforce this year, with the January urban youth unemployment rate at 16.3% for 16- to 24-year-olds excluding students.
- Authorities will introduce earlier campus job services, expand internships, and scale province-led skills ecosystems that now exceed 230 programs across more than 20 provinces to better match training with industry needs.
- Protections for platform workers will broaden as the occupational injury protection pilot—currently in 17 provinces with about 25 million participants—expands nationwide, alongside efforts to boost pension coverage for flexible workers.
- Policy steps addressing aging include gradual increases to statutory retirement ages (men to 63, white-collar women to 58, blue-collar women to 55) and stronger elderly care services, while provinces such as Guangdong pursue targeted recruitment for AI and robotics clusters.