China to beef up efforts to bolster youth employment

BEIJING -- China has pledged to stabilize and expand employment and improve people's livelihoods as a priority of its overall socio-economic development efforts.

How to promote employment, particularly for young job-seekers, is a hot topic widely discussed by national lawmakers and political advisors during this year's "two sessions."

The current employment situation has generally improved with the stabilization and improvement of the economy, said Mo Rong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body.

The number of young job-seekers keeps growing, making competition in the job market steeper. However, there are many positive factors available to boost the job market, such as economic growth and policy support, added Mo, president of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security.

Over 11.7 million students are expected to graduate from college this year. More efforts should be made to promote employment for young people and provide better guidance and services to help them secure jobs or start businesses, according to this year's government work report unveiled last week for deliberation.

Wang Jinsong, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, said keys to enlarging the job market include accelerating industrial restructuring and high-quality development, cultivating advanced manufacturing, modern agriculture and service industries, and creating more intellectual and technical posts for college students.

"Many new jobs and occupations will emerge, providing young people with more new career choices and new space for development," said Wang, also dean of the Graduate School of Tianjin University of Technology.

The government work report puts forward a slew of measures, such as making traditional industries higher-end, smarter and more eco-friendly, fostering emerging industries and future-oriented industries, and opening up new fields such as quantum technology and life sciences.

According to Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Wang Xiaoping, there is already strong demand from the job market for talent in fields such as artificial intelligence and big data.

After emerging industries create new job opportunities, reform of education and training can help young people meet such job demand.

The government work report said China will enhance vocational skills training to meet job demand in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, modern services and elderly care.

Wu De, an NPC deputy and president of Sichuan Agricultural University, said that to improve the quality of student education and training, the university has since 2020 been cutting or optimizing majors that are difficult for students to find a job.

The university has also been improving its curriculum based on its own characteristics, and is placing greater emphasis on practical training in cultivating talent, Wu added.

"It is obvious that our graduates now have a wider range of job opportunities, and they are more adaptive," Wu said.