CHINA added 3.18 million new urban jobs in the first quarter and kept unemployment levels broadly stable, Xinhua said Friday, citing the social security ministry.

    The urban unemployment rate was 4.04 percent at the end of the first quarter, flat from the end of 2015 and slightly lower than the year ago period, Xinhua said.

    Premier Li Keqiang said at China’s annual parliament in March that China will create 10 million new jobs and hold the urban unemployment rate below 4.5 percent in 2016.

    Revenue to China’s social pension fund rose 14.7 percent year on year to 1.21 trillion yuan (US$187.02 billion) in the first quarter, and pension fund expenditure in the quarter rose 12.8 percent to 967.7 billion yuan, Xinhua reported.

    (SD-Agencies)