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
