China to create over 50 mn jobs by 2020

Beijing: China will create over 50 million new urban jobs by 2020, it was announced Monday.

The government will improve employment structure and quality and keep the urban headline unemployment rate under 5 per cent by 2020, according to the employment facilitation plan for 2016-20 period released by the State Council.

The plan pointed out that employment was key to affecting standards of living and supporting for economic growth and China would make pro-active employment policies, Xinhua news agency said.

China will support sectors that create lots of jobs and promote entrepreneurship such as businesses related to the sharing economy. The government will help college graduates, farmers and workers affected by the country's overcapacity cutting drive to secure jobs.

The plan also stresses the importance of improving the efficiency of the human resource market and enhancing workers' professional skills and overall quality. Latest figures show that China created jobs for more than 13 million urban residents in 2016 and the registered unemployment rate in Chinese cities stood at 4.02 per cent at the end of 2016.