China's annual "spring breeze" employment campaign has generated 23 million job vacancies through 32,000 job fairs since the Spring Festival holiday, the employment authorities said, as the nation ramps up efforts to connect returning migrant workers with new opportunities.

The post-Chinese New Year period traditionally marks a peak in hiring as tens of millions of workers seek fresh employment. As of Mar 8, authorities have coordinated special buses, trains, and charter flights to transport 430,000 workers back to their posts, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said.

In Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a campaign focused on industrial parks offered more than 540 positions, with nine buses shuttling prospective employees to tour factory floors.

In the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, officials visited more than 3,000 corporate employers and identified 81,000 openings. Through inter-provincial cooperation, they also secured 8,000 jobs from Shandong province and 42,000 from Sichuan province.

Other regions targeted specific groups. A fair for university graduates in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, featured nearly 100 employers offering 2,000 positions.

In Zhejiang's Huzhou city, a weeklong drive offered average annual salaries of 90,000 yuan ($13,067), with top positions in sectors such as new energy and semiconductors reaching 800,000 yuan.

Authorities in Jiaozuo, Henan province, published a directory of skilled talent shortages and launched vocational courses in villages and workplaces.

In a district of Shandong's Zibo city, a recent fair used AI tools to polish resumes and offered a virtual reality recruitment zone, attracting more than 62,000 participants online and in person.

China has set a goal of creating 12 million new urban jobs this year, part of a broader push to stabilize employment amid tariff frictions and the impact of automation on the job market. Official figures show a record 12.7 million university graduates will enter the job market in 2026.