China adds 375 million jobs in past 40 years

BEIJING - China added around 375 million jobs from the start of the reform and opening-up in 1978 to 2017, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The number of rural and urban jobs in the country totaled 776 million at the end of last year, up 93 percent from 1978, an NBS report showed.

Urban jobs reached 425 million at the end of 2017, up 346 percent from 1978.

The surge in job creation was accompanied by robust economic growth. China's GDP recorded average annual growth of around 9.5 percent over the past 40 years.

During the past decades, the registered jobless rate in urban areas has stayed at a relatively low level. It had been kept at less than 3.1 percent between the mid-1980s and the end of the 20th century, and stayed between 4 percent and 4.3 percent thereafter before dipping to 3.9 percent in 2017, according to the report.

In the first half of this year, China's job creation figures remained positive as the economy largely held up well despite an escalating trade row.

A total of 7.52 million new jobs were generated in urban areas in the first six months, 170,000 more than the same period last year. The urban registered unemployment rate stood at 3.83 percent at the end of June.