Private sector fuels employment growth in China's Greater Bay Area

China's employment market has experienced a vibrant resurgence following the Spring Festival. Private enterprises continue to play a critical role in contributing to labor market growth.

The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce recently published the "China Private Enterprises Social Responsibility Report (2024)," highlighting the ongoing role of private enterprises as a key stabilizer for employment. The report, based on data from 13,885 surveyed private enterprises and publicly available information from national authorities, provides a comprehensive analysis of the social responsibility performance of the country's private sector in 2023.

According to the report, the number of private enterprises surpassed 53 million in 2023, accounting for 92.3 percent of all the businesses nationwide. These enterprises created over 90 percent of the newly-added urban jobs. The total number of employees in the surveyed private companies reached 5.7 million, marking a 9.5 percent increase in employment over the previous year.

In Guangdong Province, for instance, by the end of 2024, the total number of registered private economic entities had reached 18.4 million, representing 96.5 percent of all the business entities in the province. The local private sector contributed to more than 50 percent of Guangdong's GDP, over 60 percent of its trade volume, more than 70 percent of its tax revenues, and over 80 percent of its technological innovation and employment.

On the first working day after the Spring Festival, Guangdong convened a provincial-level meeting, setting high-quality development as the top priority for 2025. The Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission officially established a bureau of private economic development to further advance employment initiatives.

On February 17, Huolala, a top cargo service enterprise based in Guangdong, announced an investment of 35 million yuan ($4.8 million) during this year's national employment season, offering 650,000 flexible job opportunities from February to March. The jobs will be across various sections of the company and its subsidiary Xiaola Travel, including freight drivers, ride-hailing drivers, movers, and delivery riders.

During the launching ceremony of the national employment season event, Huolala co-founder Tan Wenbao remarked that Huolala had introduced 10 protective mechanisms for platform drivers, including measures to ensure fair order allocation, safety, and guaranteed rest. The initiative aims to build a healthier platform ecosystem and promote industry stability.

In Dongguan, a city in central Guangdong known as the "world's factory," statistics show that a week following the official Spring Festival holiday period that ended on February 4, almost every enterprise resumed operations and almost all employees went back to work. Since the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, Dongguan's human resources authorities have organized labor matching efforts with many regions, offering over 3,800 job opportunities.

Labor market supply and demand are gradually improving in Guangdong. According to preliminary statistics from the Guangdong Human Resources and Social Security Department, from the end of the holiday until February 10, the province's overall job vacancy rate exceeded 1.08. Guangdong also organized 19 special trains and more than 100 chartered buses to transport over 12,000 workers back to the province.

As the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area progresses, more young people from Hong Kong and Macao are turning to seek employment on the Chinese mainland.

The private economy in the Greater Bay Area has also been playing a vital role in optimizing labor resources management. For example, Huolala has acted as a "reservoir" in absorbing rural migrant labor and providing flexible employment in the logistics industry in this area. In the past year, the Guangzhou Human Resources Department also organized recruitment events at key universities in Hong Kong and Macao SARs, establishing "Greater Bay Area youth employment and entrepreneurship workstations" and Guangdong's first cross-border labor relations service demonstration center for the Greater Bay Area.

(Cover via CFP)