China will roll out more measures to help create employment opportunities and enhance social insurance in 2019, said officials from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS), Xinhua News Agency reported on Jan. 13.

Last year, the country saw a stable job market with 13.61 million newly-created jobs in urban areas, increasing by 100,000 from 2017. Newly-added urban jobs have now surpassed 13 million for six years in a row.

Urban unemployment stood at 3.8 percent at the end of 2018, while the number of jobs available outnumbered the number of job-seekers in China. During the 4th quarter of last year, there were, on average, 1.27 jobs for every job-seeker.

In 2019, China still faces considerable employment pressure, with more than 15 million new job-seekers in urban areas, including a record number of 8.34 million college graduates, said a senior official with the MHRSS.

The country will reduce the burden on enterprises to ensure employment, said MHRSS officials, noting that the ministry is accelerating research on plans to minimize enterprises’ social insurance premium.

Enterprises with fewer or zero layoffs can take back half of the unemployment insurance premium from the previous year, according to the MHRSS. Micro-credit for micro and small companies will also be raised from 2 million to 3 million yuan.

In addition to creating employment opportunities, the official said that the country would take targeted measures to help college graduates, migrant workers and veterans find employment and start their own businesses.

It will also strengthen skills training for job seekers and help those who have difficulties securing a job.

Currently, about 940 million Chinese are covered by the basic pension insurance. However, the country still faces difficulties regarding social security, including the accelerated aging of the population and growth of the elderly population.

In this regard, the country will act to see that everyone has access to social security. It will also bring pension schemes under unified national management and promote market-oriented, diversified and professional investment.