China added 2.97 million new urban jobs nationwide in the first quarter of the year, with surveyed urban unemployment rate at 5.3 percent in March, indicating that the employment situation in the country remains generally stable, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Monday.

As part of efforts to optimize policies and measures to stabilize employment, China will continue to implement favorable employment policies until the end of 2024. It is estimated that the burden for enterprises will be reduced by 180 billion yuan ($26 billion) on average annually, according to the press conference.

Additionally, China has been promoting the employment of young people including college graduates. As of mid-April, 4.2 million job openings have been offered in job fairs in large- and medium-sized cities and 197 special service activities for job-hunting have been launched.

As part of upskilling, more than 2.61 million vocational training vouchers were issued and 3.5 million subsidized vocational skills trainings were carried out nationwide in the first quarter of 2023, according to the press conference.

(Cover image via CFP)