BEIJING: The employment situation in China remained largely stable in the first quarter of 2024, with the gross revenue of China’s three major social insurance funds reaching 2.2 trillion yuan (about US$300 billion), said an official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Tuesday at a regular press conference in Beijing.

According to a report by China Central Television, China’s three primary social insurances encompass basic endowment insurance for the elderly, unemployment insurance, and work-related injury insurance. In the first quarter of this year, China witnessed the establishment of 3.03 million new urban employment opportunities, indicating an increase of 60,000 compared to the same period last year.

In March alone, China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent, marking a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage points year-on-year.

Speaking at the press conference, Chen Feng, deputy director of the Policy Research Department at the Ministry of Human Resources and Soc
ial Security, expounded on the situation of the major social insurance funds during the period.

“From January to March, the combined revenue of the three social insurance funds amounted to 2.2 trillion yuan, while the total expenditure reached 1.8 trillion yuan. By the end of March, the cumulative balance stood at 8.6 trillion yuan, indicating a generally stable operation of the funds,” said Chen.

By the end of March, there were 1.38 billion social security cardholders nationwide, equaling 98 percent of the population. Electronic social security cards were used by 986 million people. The number of people participating in the country’s basic pension, unemployment insurance, and work-related injury insurance stood at 1.07 billion, 240 million, and 290 million, respectively. This marked an increase of 14.34 million, 4.49 million, and 5.58 million respectively compared to the previous year, according to the ministry.

Source: Emirates News Agency