Interview: China to step up policy coordination to stabilize employment: minister

BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- China will strengthen coordination across policy design, public services and labor-market monitoring to safeguard overall employment stability, said Wang Xiaoping, minister of human resources and social security.

Facing a more volatile international environment and tough reform and development tasks at home, this year will be crucial for China to accelerate building an employment-friendly development model by strengthening coordination among fiscal, monetary, employment and industrial policies, Wang said in an interview with Xinhua.

Last year, the country's job market remained generally stable, adding 12.67 million new urban jobs, with the average surveyed urban unemployment rate standing at 5.2 percent.

To stabilize existing jobs, authorities will fully utilize supportive measures such as job-stabilization subsidies and tax and fee reductions, while continuing phased cuts to unemployment and work-injury insurance contribution rates, Wang said.

At the same time, China will tap job potential in emerging and future industries, Wang added, highlighting opportunities in service sectors related to elderly care and childcare.

Targeted employment support will be provided for key groups. For college graduates, efforts will be made to step up recruitment activities and expand the traineeship and internship programs. For migrant workers, the country will promote both out-of-town and nearby employment, cultivate more labor service brands with strong job-creation capacity, Wang noted.

Wang said improving workforce skills will be another major focus in 2026, as structural mismatches between labor supply and demand have become more pronounced. Rapid advances in new quality productive forces, the modern industrial system, and technological transformation have raised skill requirements for workers, she added.

To address these challenges, China has expanded large-scale vocational skills training. Since last year, training programs supported by government subsidies have covered more than 11 million people, with improved relevance and effectiveness, Wang said.

She also highlighted the growing role of flexible employment and new forms of work in absorbing labor, noting that the country will support flexible workers and those in new forms of employment in joining employee pension insurance to enjoy higher-quality social security, and expand the pilot occupational injury protection program nationwide to bring more of these workers under coverage.

China will also continue to deepen key social security reforms, ensure pensions are paid in full and on time, tilt benefits more toward low-income groups, and expand coverage of enterprise annuities, Wang noted. ■