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China's central government aims to create more than 12 million urban jobs in 2024, with a surveyed urban unemployment rate of about 5.5 percent, according to the Government Work Report delivered by Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Tuesday.

The premier stressed giving greater priority to employment, while vowing to better leverage fiscal, tax, financial and other policies to stabilize employment, and rolling out more targeted policies to boost employment this year.

To maintain a stable employment market, we will implement and improve policies on unemployment insurance premium refunds, special loans, and employment and social insurance subsidies, and we will provide more support to sectors and enterprises with a large capacity for creating jobs, the premier said.

More than 11.7 million students are due to graduate from college this year, and we must do more to promote employment for young people and provide better guidance and services to help them secure jobs or start businesses, Li said.  

We will also take solid steps to ensure employment for ex-service members, rural migrant workers and other groups. More employment assistance will be provided to those facing difficulties in securing employment, including people with disabilities, Li said.

We will improve services and assistance for people in flexible employment based on their type of employment and expand trials of occupational injury insurance for people in new forms of employment. We will take resolute steps against all forms of employment discrimination and ensure that the wages of rural migrant workers are paid. We will improve the consultation and mediation mechanisms for labor relations to protect the lawful rights and interests of workers, the premier added.

This year's Government Work Report gives more priority to employment. Compared with last year's goal of creating "about" 12 million urban jobs, the word "over" showcases the resolution and strength of the Communist Party of China and the central government in ensuring stable employment, analysts said.

"The goals for new urban jobs and the unemployment rate are set in line with the job market situation in 2024, as the number of fresh graduates will hit a record high this year," Li Chang'an, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The first and foremost method of creating jobs is promoting economic growth, and the GDP growth target of about 5 percent this year is expected to serve this purpose, Li Chang'an said.

In addition, the authorities should do more to stimulate the vitality of market entities and ensure macroeconomic consistency so as to embody their priority on employment, he said.

"In order to achieve major economic and social development goals outlined in the Government Work Report, the authorities need to strengthen innovation and opening-up," Chen Fengying, an economist and former director of the Institute of World Economic Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Chen said innovation isn't limited to science and technology but also includes innovation in institutions, governance and the business environment. "The country needs to further deepen comprehensive reform to boost market vitality and stabilize expectations so that enterprises are willing to invest and residents are willing to spend," she said.

In addition to creating more urban jobs, the authorities should strive to increase personal incomes so as to enhance consumers' spending capability and boost the comprehensive upgrading of domestic consumption for a continued economic recovery, according to Chen.

With a strong emphasis on maintaining stable employment, Chinese authorities adopted policies to support enterprises in stabilizing and expanding employment, and improved services to help college graduates and other key groups secure employment. More than 33 million people who had been lifted out of poverty found jobs last year, noted the report.

China created 12.44 million urban jobs in 2023, and the average surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent, official data showed.