China's new guidelines on developing high-quality employment, which lay out 24 specific measures, have prioritized economic development as the driving force for high-quality and full employment, said experts.
The guidelines, issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council on Wednesday, aim to expand employment channels for university graduates and other young people, while also safeguarding equal employment rights.
This marks the first central-level directive on employment in the new era, clearly defining directions and pathways for promoting job growth.
The guidelines emphasize that high-quality, full employment should be a primary goal of economic and social development, integrating these objectives into the national economic plan. It calls for coordinated efforts across fiscal, monetary, industrial, price, and employment policies to enhance the employment-driving capacity of development.
Wen Xiaoyi, Dean of the School of Labor Relations and Human Resources at the China University of Labor Relations, noted that the guidelines emphasize the strong connection between high-quality development and high-quality employment. Key components include a modern industrial system, advancements in manufacturing, regional collaboration, and the promotion of green and health-oriented jobs. This approach reflects a strategy aimed at fostering high-quality growth under the new development philosophy, Wen said.
"We need to create more job opportunities, in terms of both quantity and quality, as this will create a virtuous cycle between economic development, job creation, and quality improvement. As the scale and quality of employment increase, higher-quality labor resources will enter the production process, further promoting the development of the entire society," said Zhao Zhong, Dean of the School of Labor and Personnel, Renmin University of China.
New policies aim to chart virtuous cycle between China's economy, employment: experts
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
