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The
job market has seen a good start this year, particularly in the
artificial intelligence and big data segments, said Human
Resources Minister Wang Xiaoping, adding that 32,000 job fairs
have been held so far.
Still, authorities will strengthen policy support to improve
youth employment and help small private firms, Wang told a news
conference on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in
Beijing.
China could see 11.79 million college graduates this year, she
added, reiterating an education ministry forecast.
At the start of the parliament session this week, the government
unveiled its 2024 target for economic growth, aiming for an
expansion of "around 5%". China's gross domestic product grew
5.2% last year.
But headline indicators have tended to underplay the tension in
its vast job market, especially among young people, including
the millions of college graduates seeking work each year.
More than one in five of the roughly 100 million Chinese aged 16
to 24 were unemployed in June 2023, the latest figure before
statistics bureau officials abruptly suspended the series.
China resumed publication of the data in January, but it now
excludes college students, and put youth unemployment at 14.9%
in December.
'WORK IN FACTORIES'
Authorities are under pressure to create enough jobs,
particularly as ever more college graduates chase a shrinking
pool of white-collar jobs in a weak economy after the COVID19
pandemic.
China has tried to steer them to vocational and technical jobs
as the world's second-largest economy builds its advanced
manufacturing sector and relies less on the West amid technology
curbs imposed by the United States and others.
But lack of skilled talent remains a hurdle for the sector.
Wang said China needs to spur young people to acquire technical
skills and work in factories, in its efforts to nurture talent.
This year, China aims to create more than 12 million new urban
jobs and keep its survey-based urban unemployment rate at around
5.5%.
Last year 12.44 million urban jobs were added, with urban
unemployment at 5.2% on average, official data shows.
(Reporting by Ellen Zhang, Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing
by Clarence Fernandez and Sam Holmes)
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