CHINA’S job market will remain generally stable for the next five years as the country cranks up its proactive job-creation measures to cope with the challenges ahead.

Led by the country’s consistent job-first policy, the State Council has released a plan on boosting employment for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), vowing to add over 55 million new urban jobs in the next five years.

Li Zhong, vice minister of human resources and social security, told a press conference on Monday that the plan is an “important guide” for the work related to employment, which faces both opportunities and challenges.

Acknowledging the current problems and future uncertainties in the job market, a senior official with China’s top economic planner who was also at the meeting said that they are “overall confident in keeping employment stable.”

The country’s positive economic outlook has laid an important foundation for promoting employment, said Gao Gao, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission.

New growth drivers have also been formed to boost employment, Gao said, citing the examples of the digital economy and the country’s efforts in promoting mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

China’s ever-growing service sector, with new industries constantly emerging, has served to absorb labor. The number of people working in the tertiary industry accounted for 47.7 percent of the total workforce in 2020, up 4.4 percentage points from that of 2016, according to Li.

The country’s job market is also underpinned by the private sector. (Xinhua)