Emerging industries unlock job growth

China is bridging structural mismatches between burgeoning sectors and employment

China's overall employment scene remains stable, with the synergy between industrial upgrading and employment expansion continuing to deepen. Yet structural mismatches in the labor market persist as a prominent challenge. The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) sets out a strategic vision for promoting high-quality and full employment, calling for the integration of an employment-first policy with efforts to expand employment and improve job quality. In June, the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a plan to implement an employment-first strategy, which underscores the need for stronger coordination between industrial and employment policies during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Emerging industries are a new source of job creation. These include not only strategic emerging sectors such as next-generation information technology, new energy, new materials, robotics and biomedicine, but also future-oriented fields such as quantum technology, bio-manufacturing, hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence and 6G telecommunications.

Although emerging industries are typically technology — and capital-intensive and employ fewer workers directly than labor-intensive sectors, their indirect contribution to job creation is substantial. This potential manifests in the lengthening value chain — encompassing R&D, design, systems integration and application operations. The key to unlocking this potential does not lie in seeking new engines for mass hiring, but in translating the new technologies, scenarios and business models born from industrial upgrading into sustainable and expandable job opportunities. In other words, the employment potential of emerging industries is realized not through an expansion of low-cost labor, but through a finer division of industrial chains, an extension of service networks and a restructuring of occupational systems.

China's emerging industries are already a solid pillar of employment. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's "three new" economy — a collection of economic activities centered around new industries, new business formats and new business models — generated 24.29 trillion yuan ($3.58 trillion) in value added in 2024, accounting for 18.01 percent of GDP. The momentum carried into 2025. The value added of equipment manufacturing in large-scale industries grew by 9.2 percent, high-tech manufacturing by 9.4 percent, revenue of strategic emerging service enterprises by 9.3 percent and that of high-tech service enterprises by 7.9 percent. New energy vehicle production and sales both surpassed 16 million units, while output of service robots and 3D-printing equipment also saw rapid growth.

This suggests that employment opportunities generated by the "three new" economy come not only from manufacturing but also from services — and, more importantly, from the convergence of the two, which gives rise to new professions, new job categories and new entrepreneurial avenues. This is already evident in several key areas. In the NEV sector, industrial expansion has not only boosted assembly-line jobs, but also created new demand for power batteries, automotive chips and smart cockpits. In the low-altitude economy, the proliferation of drones has created not only pilot positions but also a range of composite roles in route planning, emergency response and logistics delivery. New occupations, released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, include generative AI system testers, drone fleet operations planners and hydrogen fuel cell test engineers. These reflect the reshaping of the employment landscape by industrial transformation and open new pathways for college graduates, skilled workers and those transitioning between occupations.

Generally speaking, however, the employment potential of emerging industries does not automatically materialize into real jobs. In some localities and enterprises, the focus tends to tilt heavily toward project investment, output value and technological breakthroughs — often overlooking job creation, skills alignment and career development. This can produce peculiar paradoxes: some industries expand rapidly while employment lags behind; some companies struggle to recruit qualified talent while some workers have difficulty landing suitable jobs.

One major reason is that emerging industries are inherently interdisciplinary, cross-cutting and fast-moving, whereas conventional vocational education and training systems are slow to adapt. Many college graduates fall short in the engineering, application-oriented and tool-based competencies that employers demand. Similarly, workers from traditional industries often lack digital literacy and hands-on proficiency in operating and maintaining new equipment. Adding to the challenge, future industries are marked by uncertain technological trajectories and unproven business models. If some local governments chase buzzwords without cultivating viable application scenarios and a supportive industrial ecosystem, it is hard to achieve stable job growth.

Emerging industries represent the direction of industrial development and should also serve as an anchor for high-quality job growth and full employment. Tapping into this potential requires moving beyond the conventional mindset of treating industrial policy and labor policy in isolation. Job creation goals can be embedded in industrial policy; employment policy can grasp industrial trends; and talent development can be grounded in real-world scenarios. Industrial upgrading should ultimately benefit workers — by delivering quality jobs, sharpening skills alignment and strengthening labor rights protection — so that industrial progress and job security advance in tandem. This can be pursued concretely along two dimensions.

First, industrial development and job creation should be planned simultaneously. When local governments draw up plans for sectors such as AI, robotics and bio-manufacturing, they should not confine themselves to lists of projects and enterprises. They should also develop corresponding job inventories, skills matrices and training road maps. It is worth noting that not every region needs to engage in original innovation or full-chain competition. A more pragmatic approach is to identify viable niches based on local strengths and application scenarios.

For example, regions with a strong manufacturing base could focus on supporting jobs in smart equipment, critical components and inspection and testing services. Those rich in agricultural and cultural tourism resources could expand employment scenarios in low-altitude inspection, smart agriculture and wellness services. And areas with a concentration of universities and research institutions could develop specialized service roles in proof-of-concept validation, trial runs, data annotation and model evaluation.

Second, vocational skills development can take center stage. For new occupations and job categories, it is essential to move quickly in formulating occupational standards, training syllabi and assessment frameworks. Leading enterprises, vocational schools and industry associations should be encouraged to jointly develop curricula that incorporate real corporate projects, equipment and workflow into training.

Public employment services should also pivot toward monitoring labor demand in emerging sectors, diagnosing skills gaps and providing job transition support — helping college graduates and workers from traditional industries find viable pathways into employment. As for technologies such as AI that may displace certain jobs, it is worth exploring human-machine collaboration models and guiding enterprises to use new technologies to boost labor productivity, reduce physical strain and expand service reach, rather than simply cutting headcount. At the same time, continued efforts should be made to strengthen the management and support for new forms of employment, ensuring that new occupations remain dynamic and vibrant while also being underpinned by clear standards and adequate protections.

The author is a professor at the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.