CBN丨China pledged policy support and industrial upgrades to stabilize job market this year

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

• China’s employment shows good start this year;
• China's Feb inflation declines mainly due to holiday effects.

China’s Annual Two Sessions 2025

China's employment situation this year is expected to maintain overall stability with improvements, despite the challenging task of creating more jobs, Wang Xiaoping, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security said in Beijing on Sunday.

Wang told a press conference on people's livelihood for the third session of the 14th National People's Congress that, from the first two months of the year, the post-Spring Festival resumption of work and production has accelerated, with migrant workers returning to work earlier than previous years, indicating a good start for the job market.

As China steadily advances high-quality development, the widespread application of a range of new technologies, products and scenarios, along with the continuous release of consumption potential, and the effective stimulation of various financial entities and entrepreneurial innovation, have laid a solid foundation for stabilizing and expanding the job market, Wang pointed out.

These initiatives align with the tasks set out in this year's government work report, released on Wednesday, which commits to pursue people-oriented macro policies, including channeling more funds and resources into serving the public and meet their needs, thereby help create more jobs.

The government will roll out new initiatives to ramp up job creation in key sectors. More efforts will focus on advanced manufacturing sector, new consumption hotspots, emerging jobs and major engineering projects, and targeting rural and urban grassroots areas as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, which are expected to unlock more job opportunities, according to Wang.

Moreover, existing employment policies will be fully implemented. "Last year, the balance of special loans for employment stabilization exceeded 300 billion yuan, and this year, the loan quota will be increased," Wang noted.

Efforts will also be made to promote entrepreneurship-driven employment, providing entrepreneurs with low-cost, convenient, and comprehensive support, Wang said, adding that China's guaranteed loans for startups amounted to 270 billion yuan last year, and the efforts will be further intensified in 2025.

Two Sessions Highlights

• Chinese lawmakers submitted 269 proposals to the country's annual legislative session as of March 8, Xinhua reported. The NPC also received over 8,000 suggestions from deputies.
• China’s average life expectancy reached 79 years old last year, 0.4 years more than in 2023, Lei Haichao, head of the National Health Commission, said at a press conference during the Two Sessions. Over 90 percent of village clinics in China have services covered by the basic medical insurance, he added.
• China will speed up the application of big data, AI, and other new technologies to improve elderly care, Minister of Civil Affairs Lu Zhiyuan said at the Two Sessions yesterday. The country will leverage new technologies and products in fields such as social assistance and services for people with disabilities, Lu added.
• Lui Kin, a Hong Kong member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, suggested launching pilot programs for cargo delivery by drones and electric vertical takeoff aircraft between designated locations in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, potentially to and from Shenzhen’s Qianhai zone and the Hong Kong side of the Shenzhen Bay Port; and the Hong Kong and Shenzhen parks of the Hetao Cooperation Zone.
• Hong Kong NPC Deputy Priscilla Leung Mei-fun proposed stronger, all-inclusive regulations for cross-border data flow within the Greater Bay Area, possibly through national legislation. She pointed to the differences in data protection laws and practices among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao as the reason for the need of better legal coordination and integrating a relevant legislative framework and rules across the three places.
• Irons Sze Wing-wai, a national political advisor from Hong Kong, said during the “passage interviews” before the CPPCC closing meeting today that the city’s status as a global finance, shipping and trading hub is attributed to the nation’s development. Sze said the future of Hong Kong lies in resonating with the country’s advancement, and the city would continue to contribute to the nation’s development with its unique advantages.
• Nancy Ip Yuk-yu, a national lawmaker and head of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), said on Sunday that the city’s tertiary education sector is proactively embedding AI with research and pedagogy, aiming to nurture more technology-savvy talent to fit in with the country’s national innovation-driven agenda. Ip said she believes that the city’s impressive research capabilities, bolstered by five high-ranked universities, and increasing fiscal inputs and additional resources, have readied Hong Kong to contribute to the nation’s AI initiatives.

Next on industry and company news

• China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased 0.7 percent year-on-year while the Producer Price Index (PPI) declined by 2.2 percent in February. These fluctuations were primarily due to the Spring Festival date shift, holiday effects and fluctuations in international commodity prices, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sunday.
• China will impose additional tariffs on some products imported from Canada, effective March 20, after conducting an anti-discrimination probe, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said on Saturday. Additional 100 percent tariffs will be imposed on Canadian rapeseed oil, oil cakes, and peas, while aquatic products and pork will be subject to additional 25 percent tariffs.
• Chinese automaker Xpeng’s shares surged over 7 percent at one point on Monday morning as investors bet on its upcoming launch event on Thursday, where the company will unveil the new versions of its G6 and G9 models. The upgraded G9 will come with Turing AI smart driving and an AI chassis.
• Changan Auto will launch a humanoid robot in 2027, which is expected to roll off the production line a year later, the Chinese automaker said, adding that it will complete the test flights of its flying car by the end of this year.
• China's fixed-asset investment in railroad networks rose 5.1 percent to 68.5 billion yuan in the first two months from a year ago, the China Railway Group said today. The country had over 162,000 km of railroad in use as of the end of last year, of which 48,000 km were high-speed.
• Several of China's top universities have announced plans to expand their undergraduate enrollment to prioritize national strategic needs. Peking University said on Saturday that it would add 150 undergraduate spots in 2025 to focus on areas of national strategic importance, fundamental disciplines and emerging frontier fields. Tsinghua University also plans to increase its undergraduate enrollment by about 150 spots and establish a new general education college, with a focus on cultivating interdisciplinary talent in AI and other fields. Renmin University said on Saturday that it would add more than 100 places in areas such as AI to improve innovation. Shanghai Jiao Tong University will add 150 spots focusing on "cutting-edge technologies" and emerging industries "urgently needed", in AI, integrated circuits, biomedicine, healthcare and new energy.
• "Ne Zha 2” has raked in nearly 14.9 billion yuan at the global box office as of yesterday, surpassing “Avengers: Infinity War” to become the world's sixth highest-grossing film of all time, according to Beacon Pro.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

• Chinese stocks edged down on Monday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component each slid 0.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also closed 1.85 percent lower, and the TECH index dropped 2.5 percent.

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

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