China will take steps to stabilise employment – cabinet meeting

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will take steps to stabilise employment, particularly at manufacturing and trading companies, state media reported on Friday, citing discussions at a cabinet meeting.

Companies are slowly adding jobs again after shedding staff for months, as the world’s second-largest economy continues to warm up after the lifting of COVID restrictions late last year.

Officials will also aim to improve the employment situation for key groups such as college graduates and migrant workers, the report added, through improving vocational education provision and optimising universities and colleges’ ability to meet market demand, among other measures.

In 2023, the number of college graduates is expected to reach just shy of 12 million. Last December, the surveyed unemployment rate among people aged between 16 and 24 in urban areas in China was around 16.7%.

(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Mark Potter)