Employment is a fundamental aspect of people’s livelihoods; it concerns the immediate interests of the people, the healthy development of the economy and society, and the long-term stability and security of the nation. To implement the employment-first strategy and promote high-quality and full employment, the following opinions are hereby put forward.
I. General Requirements
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee,uphold the people-centered development philosophy; fully implement the policy of workers seeking employment on their own initiative, market regulation of employment, government promotion of employment, and encouragement of entrepreneurship; take the promotion of high-quality development as the foundation; use the implementation of the employment-first strategy as the guiding principle; rely on the strengthening of employment-first policies as the key measure; focus on resolving structural employment contradictions; draw momentum from deepening reforms of employment systems and mechanisms; and maintain the bottom line of preventing the risk of large-scale unemployment;We will continuously promote the effective improvement in the quality and reasonable growth in the quantity of employment, strive to ensure that workers enjoy job stability, reasonable income, reliable social security, and occupational safety, and constantly enhance the sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security among the broad masses of workers, thereby providing strong support for the comprehensive advancement of the great cause of national rejuvenation and the building of a modern socialist country with Chinese characteristics.
Through these efforts, a situation characterized by ample employment opportunities, a fair employment environment, an optimized employment structure, efficient job-worker matching, and harmonious labor relations will gradually take shape. The employment work system—featuring integrated systems, coordinated mechanisms, digital empowerment, scientific management, and legal safeguards—will become more robust.Urban employment has grown steadily, unemployment rates have been effectively controlled, labor force participation has remained generally stable, the development of a modern workforce has accelerated, the public employment service system has been further improved, the middle-income group has steadily expanded, social insurance coverage has continued to broaden, and workers’ employment rights have been effectively safeguarded—ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to achieve personal development through hard work.
II. Promoting Synergy Between Economic and Social Development and Employment Promotion
(1) Strengthen the employment-first orientation in macroeconomic regulation. Treat high-quality and full employment as a priority objective of economic and social development, incorporate it into national economic and social development plans, and promote the coordinated implementation of fiscal, monetary, industrial, pricing, and employment policies to enhance the employment-generating capacity of development. Improve the employment impact assessment mechanism; ensure that the formulation of major policies, the determination of major projects, and the planning of major productive forces are accompanied by assessments of job creation and unemployment risks, thereby establishing an employment-friendly development model.
(2) Enhance the synergy of the modern industrial system with employment. Develop new forms of productive forces tailored to local conditions; transform and upgrade traditional industries; foster and expand emerging industries; plan and build future industries; and accelerate the development of advanced manufacturing clusters to create more high-quality jobs. Promote the integrated development of production-oriented services and accelerate the diversified development of consumer-oriented services to expand employment capacity in the tertiary sector. Deepen the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, develop modern agriculture, improve agricultural labor productivity, and enhance the appeal of agricultural employment.
(3) Support all types of business entities in stabilizing and expanding employment. Leverage the leading role of state-owned enterprises in employment, and comprehensively utilize policies such as fiscal support, tax incentives, financial support, and social security to guide all types of entities in better fulfilling their social responsibilities to stabilize and expand employment. Support the development of industries and enterprises with strong employment absorption capacity; for business entities demonstrating exemplary effects on employment, prioritize the allocation of construction land quotas under equal conditions and provide preferential employment support services.
(4) Enhance the employment capacity of coordinated regional development. Deepen the implementation of the strategy for coordinated regional development and major regional strategies, accelerating the formation of employment clusters and growth poles characterized by integrated services, consistent policies, and unimpeded channels. Guide the orderly transfer of capital, technology, and labor-intensive industries from the eastern regions to the central and western regions, and from central cities to inland areas. Increase policy support for revolutionary base areas, border regions, and resource-depleted regions to promote balanced employment development across regions.
(5) Cultivate new drivers for expanding and improving employment. Expand new employment opportunities in the digital economy by vigorously advancing the digital transformation of industries and the industrialization of digital technologies, supporting the healthy development of the platform economy, and effectively tapping into job potential and facilitating career transitions during digital transformation. Create new green employment opportunities by actively developing green industries such as energy conservation and carbon reduction, environmental protection, and ecological conservation, restoration, and utilization, thereby promoting synergies between green development and employment growth.We will open up new fields in health and elderly care employment, develop the silver economy, and promote the deep integration of health and elderly care with tourism, leisure, and food industries to generate new sources of employment growth.
III. Focus on Resolving Structural Employment Contradictions
(6) Improve the alignment between educational supply and talent demand. Adapt to the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, scientifically assess trends in human resources development, and coordinate efforts in education, training, and employment. Promote high-quality development of higher education, expand enrollment in science, engineering, agriculture, and medical disciplines, and optimize and adjust the structure of academic disciplines and majors based on social needs, industrial demands, and career development. Use employment outcomes as a key basis for allocating educational resources, evaluating educational quality, and arranging enrollment plans, and implement a “red and yellow card” warning system for majors with low employment quality.Accelerate the development of modern vocational education, promote the integration of vocational and general education, industry-education collaboration, and the convergence of science and education to cultivate more high-quality technical and skilled talent. Advance the high-quality and distinctive development of technical education by establishing a number of technical education alliances (groups) and selecting and building a group of high-quality technical colleges and programs. Integrate career education into the entire process of talent cultivation in higher education institutions, and promote career orientation, career awareness, and career experience activities in general high schools.
(7) Improve the lifelong vocational skills training system. Implement the “Skills China” initiative, vigorously carry out vocational skills training, fully implement the new enterprise apprenticeship system, and establish a skills training system that spans the entire working life of employees and covers the full course of their careers.Strengthen the development of public training bases and training bases for high-skilled talent, and encourage enterprises to establish vocational skills training bases, thereby forming a vocational skills training supply system led by market-oriented training and centered on autonomous training by industries and enterprises. Guide enterprises to fully allocate and utilize employee education funds in accordance with regulations, ensuring that more than 60% of these funds are used for the education and training of frontline employees, and permit their use for enterprises to establish vocational schools (including technical colleges).
(8) Broaden career pathways for skilled workers. Establish and improve the National Qualifications Framework; promote the mutual recognition of vocational qualifications and skill levels with corresponding professional titles and academic credentials; advance the implementation of the “academic diploma plus multiple vocational skill certificates” system; actively identify and cultivate new occupational sequences; and promptly announce new occupations. Facilitate career advancement pathways; support eligible enterprises in conducting evaluations and appointments for Senior Master Technicians and Chief Master Technicians; and establish a number of Master Craftsman Studios and Model Worker and Craftsman Innovation Studios.Dynamically publish information on salary levels for skilled workers to guide enterprises in gradually improving their compensation and benefits. Improve the vocational skills competition system, with the WorldSkills Competition as the guiding force, the National Vocational Skills Competition as the flagship, national industry and local vocational skills competitions at all levels as the main body, and vocational skills competitions in enterprises and schools as the foundation; and refine relevant commendation and reward policies.
IV. Improving the Employment Support System for Key Groups
(9) Expand employment and career development pathways for young people, including college graduates. Promote market-oriented employment by improving policies on wages and benefits, professional title evaluation and appointment, and training and further education. Develop more job positions that allow young people to leverage their knowledge and skills, and encourage them to seek employment and start businesses in key sectors, key industries, grassroots urban and rural areas, and small, medium, and micro enterprises. Localities with the necessary conditions may increase policy support for college graduates who take jobs at small, medium, and micro enterprises located in counties and townships.Enhance the effectiveness of youth employment services by strengthening targeted career guidance, job placement, skills training, and internships, thereby establishing a service framework that bridges on-campus and off-campus resources to support personal growth and development. Implement special programs such as the “Youth Employment Launch” and “Hongzhi Assistance” initiatives to strengthen employment support for graduates from disadvantaged families and long-term unemployed youth, helping them secure employment and integrate into society as soon as possible. Ensure that returnees from overseas studies enjoy equal access to employment and entrepreneurship policies and services.
(10) Strengthen employment service guarantees for veterans. Establish a comprehensive education and training system for veterans that integrates academic education with vocational skills training, entrepreneurship training, and personalized training. Identify job opportunities and explore an employment model where “training precedes job placement.” Encourage outstanding veterans to work in grassroots Party organizations, urban and rural communities, and veteran service agencies in accordance with relevant regulations. Guide veterans to start businesses in key sectors prioritized by the state.
(11) Expand employment and income-generating opportunities for the rural labor force. Strengthen county-level industries that enrich the people, introduce a range of new occupations aligned with the needs of comprehensive rural revitalization, and focus on guiding out-migrated talent to return home and urban talent to start businesses in rural areas. Implement workfare programs to accelerate the formation of a coordinated urban-rural employment structure characterized by two-way mobility and mutual integration.Establish regional labor cooperation alliances, carry out the identification and cultivation of labor service brands, and improve an integrated service system for migrant workers that combines employment services, vocational training, and rights protection. Promote the normalization of employment assistance for low-income rural populations to prevent large-scale relapse into poverty caused by unemployment.
(12) Improve the employment assistance system for vulnerable groups. Strengthen support for groups facing employment difficulties, such as older workers, people with disabilities, and the long-term unemployed. Rationally establish and dynamically adjust the criteria for identifying individuals facing employment difficulties, and improve the employment assistance system to ensure timely identification, priority service, targeted support, and dynamic management. Encourage and support enterprises to create jobs and engage in independent entrepreneurship, and make effective use of public welfare positions to ensure that households with no employed members are eliminated on a dynamic basis.Create diverse and personalized job opportunities suitable for the elderly, and strengthen services such as job search assistance and skills training. Employers hiring workers over the statutory retirement age must legally guarantee their basic rights, including remuneration, occupational safety and health protection, and work-related injury insurance, and support employers in participating in social insurance in accordance with regulations.
(13) Optimize the support system for self-employment and flexible employment. Improve the support system for entrepreneurship training, services, incubation, and activities; optimize the policy environment for promoting employment through entrepreneurship; and enhance the quality of entrepreneurship.Support the healthy development of flexible employment by establishing regional and sector-specific gig markets and functional, convenient gig service stations. Support and regulate the development of new forms of employment, expand pilot programs for occupational injury protection for workers in these new forms, ensure their right to know and participate in platform labor rules, and facilitate channels for workers to protect their rights. Provide social insurance subsidies in accordance with regulations to individuals facing employment difficulties and college graduates who have not secured employment within two years of graduation and are engaged in flexible employment.
V. Improving the Targeted and Efficient Public Employment Service System
(14) Improve the public employment service system covering the entire population. Adhering to the principles of universality, fundamental coverage, and safety-net protection, we will refine the list of services, strengthen service responsibilities at places of residence and employment, and promote public employment services that achieve broad coverage of the resident population, extensive benefits for employers, and seamless integration of employment and entrepreneurship.We will enhance the professional level of services, leverage the role of demonstration projects for improving public employment service capabilities, regularly conduct professional training and skills competitions, support employment service practitioners from public employment service agencies and universities in applying for relevant professional titles, and promote the innovative development of the human resources service industry while expanding service supply.
(15) Strengthen the foundation of grassroots-oriented public employment services. Incorporate the development of the public employment service system into economic, social, and territorial spatial planning. Based on geographical location, population characteristics, and service coverage areas, strategically deploy service facilities and personnel to extend service resources to the grassroots level, expand coverage to rural areas, and prioritize remote regions and groups facing employment difficulties.Integrate grassroots employment public services into the framework of Party-led grassroots governance and include them in grassroots livelihood security service initiatives. Establish “neighborhood” employment service stations and “15-minute” employment service zones to build a grassroots employment public service network characterized by unified signage, rational layout, standardized services, and efficient operations.
(16) Promote a digitally empowered model for public employment services. Establish a unified national employment information database and launch a national public employment service platform to achieve integrated processing of employment matters, targeted services, and intelligent oversight. Promote a model characterized by digital empowerment, on-site surveys, and targeted services. Advance data sharing and cross-referencing among departments such as human resources and social security, education, public security, civil affairs, taxation, and market regulation to proactively and precisely deliver policies and services to employers and workers.
VI. Enhancing the Protection of Workers’ Employment Rights
(17) Safeguard Equal Employment Rights. Resolutely eliminate institutional and systemic barriers affecting the mobility of labor and talent. Simultaneously advance reforms in household registration, employment, and personnel file management services to eliminate unreasonable restrictions and employment discrimination based on region, status, gender, or age, thereby facilitating social mobility.We will improve the redress mechanism for employment discrimination, incorporate it into the scope of labor security inspections in accordance with the law, refine the civil litigation support mechanism, and prudently carry out public interest litigation by the procuratorate. We will improve mechanisms to promote the proportional employment, centralized employment, and self-employment of persons with disabilities, and fully leverage the role of the employment security fund for persons with disabilities in promoting employment. We will safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of women in employment and entrepreneurship, career development, skills training, and occupational health and safety; improve support systems such as maternity protection, universal childcare, and employment assistance; and build a childbirth-friendly employment environment.
(18) Promote reasonable growth in labor remuneration. Improve the primary distribution mechanism whereby factors such as labor, knowledge, and technology participate in distribution according to their contributions, and increase the proportion of labor remuneration in primary distribution. Strengthen macro-level guidance on wage distribution in enterprises, and improve mechanisms for wage determination, reasonable growth, and payment guarantees for workers.
(19) Build harmonious labor relations. Improve the consultation and coordination mechanisms for labor relations, and urge enterprises to ensure, in accordance with the law, that workers enjoy their legitimate rights and interests, including the right to receive wages, rest and vacation, and protection of occupational safety and health. Strengthen the development of teams for labor security supervision and the mediation and arbitration of labor and personnel disputes, continue to regulate the order of the human resources market, and effectively address irregularities such as wage arrears, failure to pay social insurance premiums, illegal layoffs, and job scams.
(20) Expand social security coverage. Encourage employers and employees to participate in social insurance in accordance with the law; improve social security systems for flexible workers, migrant workers, and those in new forms of employment; and completely remove household registration restrictions on social insurance enrollment in the place of employment. Promote broad coverage of unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance, and housing provident funds for all employed workers.Improve the linkage mechanism between employment, unemployment insurance, and the minimum living security system; ensure the timely disbursement of unemployment insurance benefits in accordance with regulations; provide tiered and categorized social assistance; and adjust and refine the rules regarding the phase-out period for minimum living security benefits and the deduction of employment-related costs.
VII. Mobilizing Synergies to Promote High-Quality and Full Employment
(21) Strengthen organizational leadership. Uphold the principle of incorporating the Party’s leadership throughout all areas and the entire process of promoting high-quality and full employment. Include employment work as a key component of performance evaluations for Party and government leadership teams at the county level and above, and conduct commendations for employment work in accordance with relevant regulations. All regions, relevant departments, and units must treat employment as a top priority for people’s livelihoods, strengthen organizational implementation, improve institutional mechanisms, enhance collaborative efforts, and effectively implement this opinion in light of local conditions to ensure that the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council are fully and effectively carried out.
(22) Strengthen Support and Safeguards. Research and improve legal systems related to employment promotion and anti-employment discrimination. Allocate employment subsidy funds reasonably, and make coordinated and effective use of unemployment insurance funds and various industrial guidance funds to promote employment; improve the system for government procurement of public employment services. Accelerate the construction of a Chinese theoretical framework on employment, and strengthen theoretical research and the development of think tanks in this field. Strengthen international cooperation in the employment sector, establish regular dialogue mechanisms, and enhance China’s international voice and influence in the field of employment.
(23) Prevent and Mitigate Major Risks. Establish and improve a statistical monitoring system for high-quality and full employment, implement a job vacancy survey system, and conduct assessments of high-quality and full employment as appropriate. Improve mechanisms for preventing and mitigating the risk of large-scale unemployment, strengthen monitoring, early warning, policy reserves, and emergency response; where conditions permit, localities may establish employment risk reserve funds to properly address major risks in the employment sector. Actively address the impact of the rapid development of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, on employment.
(24) Foster a favorable environment. Conduct targeted employment promotion and skills outreach campaigns as appropriate; intensify efforts to publicize and explain policies; promptly summarize and publicize exemplary practices and implementation outcomes; strengthen public opinion guidance; and promote the formation of a favorable social atmosphere in which the entire society cares about and supports employment.
