China urges efforts to boost employment this year

BEIJING - Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai on Friday urged more efforts to promote job growth and make employment a priority this year.

Ma called for a more proactive employment policy at a State Council meeting.

China is still facing employment pressure, which requires authorities to intensify efforts in planning and policy, said the vice premier.

Work should be done to boost the development of industries and enterprises that can create more jobs than others, encourage start-ups and innovation, and provide more vocational training and better public employment services for the job hunters, he said.

Ma also stressed that particular attention should be given to college graduates and resettling workers whose jobs were lost in production capacity cuts in sectors like steel and mining, as well as other people with difficulties in finding work.

China created 13.1 million new jobs for urban residents last year. The registered unemployment rate in Chinese cities stood at 4 percent at the end of 2016.