China creates 4.43 mln jobs in first four months

BEIJING, May 31 -- China added 4.43 million jobs in the first four months of 2016, an official revealed on Tuesday, suggesting that, despite economic headwinds, the job market has "remained basically stable."

"Major job market indicators have stayed within a reasonable range," said Xin Changxing, vice minister of human resources and social security, at a press conference Tuesday.

Xin noted that there was a structural imbalance in the job market, with demand from labor-intensive industries decreasing, while skilled positions, with experience of sophisticated techniques, posted an increase.

Creating more jobs, to keep employment stable, is a top government priority as millions of workers face the prospect of redundancy due to mergers and reorganization in industries bogged down by overcapacity.

China aims to create more than 10 million new urban jobs in 2016 and keep the registered urban unemployment rate below 4.5 percent, according to the government work report released in March.

China's registered unemployment rate in urban areas was 4.04 percent at the end of March.