China's job market remains stable in H1

China maintained overall stability in its job market during the first half of 2025, with the combined balance of three major social insurance funds reaching 9.83 trillion yuan (about 1.37 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of June, official data showed Tuesday.

At a press conference held in Beijing, Cui Pengcheng, a spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said that China added 6.95 million more urban jobs nationwide in the first half of the year, accomplishing 58 percent of this year's target. In June, the surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5 percent, remaining flat compared with one year earlier.

The ministry reported that lowering unemployment insurance premiums reduced corporate labor expenses by more than 90 billion yuan (about 12.5 billion U.S. dollars). Enterprises received 6.2 billion yuan (about 860 million U.S. dollars) in job retention subsidies, while vocational training and other employment promotion programs were supported by an extra 11.3 billion yuan (about 1.57 billion U.S. dollars) in funding.

"We implemented a series of support measures, including expanding job opportunities through multiple channels, increasing financial assistance to enterprises, and introducing one-off subsidies for job creation as well as a one-time staffing and funding expansion policy for state-owned enterprises. These efforts contributed to overall employment stability," said Cui.

China's basic retirement insurance, unemployment insurance, and work-related injury insurance funds recorded a total revenue of 4.53 trillion yuan (around 631 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2025. The combined expenditure of the three funds stood at 3.89 trillion yuan (around 542 billion U.S. dollars), with a cumulative balance of 9.83 trillion yuan (around 1.37 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of June. Overall, the operation of the funds remained stable, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the modernization of China's social security card program has continued to progress. The number of cardholders nationwide has reached 1.39 billion, covering 98.9 percent of the population. Among them, more than 1 billion people have been issued electronic social security cards, covering 77.9 percent of the population.

China's job market remains stable in H1

The United States cannot legitimize an operation that attacked Venezuela and captured its president, a Chinese scholar said Sunday.

On Saturday, the United States launched a large-scale strike on Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were 'captured and flown out of Venezuela' according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account.

Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Diplomatic Studies at Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that the aim of this operation is to take full control of Venezuela’s natural resources.

"I don't think the United States can legitimize this operation to take custody of the president of Venezuela. And also I don't think the United States can legitimize its any action in taking the oil reserves of that country. This is actually a very dangerous game played by the Trump administration. And of course, the United States would like to take full control of that country and to take full control of the natural resources, especially the large reserve of oil in Venezuela," said Teng.

Teng said Venezuela is not an isolated case but a common practice by the United States. The United States launched an invasion of Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, which continued until January 1990, with the stated objective of capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime.

"We still remember the so-called sentence of the former president of Panama in the late 1980s. And this time, the president of Venezuela will be under some judicial condition (judicial proceedings) for the so-called drug trafficking and some other crimes. So I think this is not a single case for the Venezuela country, but also this is actually a practice by the United States -- to use force, to use so-called justice under law against any leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean waters," he said.

US cannot legitimize operation against Venezuela: Chinese scholar