Labor ministers from the BRICS countries are attending the two-day 2017 BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting in China's southwestern municipality of Chongqing. 

More than 100 officials are attending the meeting, which aims to ensure continued progress in labor markets, as well as acknowledging a number of shared challenges, including the need to raise labor force participation rates and to address high levels of inequality.

The third meeting of the BRICS' labor and employment ministers has a focus on the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the future of the workplace.

China, president of the group, says it will place people’s livelihoods first and prioritize employment.

Chinese Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Yin Weimin made five proposals during talks, including a) enhancing employment to achieve inclusive growth; b) promoting skills-training to alleviate poverty; c) deepening social security cooperation to achieve win-win results; d) strengthening people-to-people exchanges in the field of labor and employment to share research outcomes; and e) establishing a mechanism to improve cooperation.

The meeting will end with the signing of the Declaration of the 2017 BRICS Ministers of Labor and Employment. 

Other documents to be signed include the Consensus on Future Governance of the Labor Market, the Poverty Alleviation Action Plan through skills-training, the Cooperation Framework on Social Security, and the Working Regulation on the Labor Research Institutions Network.