11 million new jobs, improvements for flexibly employed unveiled in report

The central government will continue to implement its employment-first policy to stabilize the job market in 2022, according to the Government Work Report released on Saturday.

It stated that the government aims to create more than 11 million new jobs in urban areas this year and to keep the unemployment rate in urban areas under 5.5 percent.

More supporting policies are set to be released, while restrictions that may hamper the job market and the development of start-ups will be eliminated to create a healthier working environment.

For example, the government will continue to reimburse companies for unemployment insurance and will lend greater policy support assistance to key groups including college graduates, demobilized military staff and migrant workers.

According to the report, the government will continue to improve the social security and labor rights protection of the flexibly employed, and increase efforts to prevent gender discrimination and illegal behavior that infringe on workers' rights.

In addition, 100 billion yuan ($15.8 billion) in funds will be set aside to stabilize the job market and improve training to produce more high-quality workers for manufacturing industries.