China has ordered State-owned enterprises to increase campus recruitment by more than 5 percentage points as part of a broad action plan aimed at stabilizing the labor market, according to a government document released on Monday.

The 18-point plan, titled Action Plan for Stabilizing Employment, Expanding Capacity and Improving Quality, was approved on April 30 by the State Council's leading group on employment promotion and labor protection.

The plan calls on government agencies and State-owned enterprises to maintain or expand hiring. It specifically requires SOEs to raise the proportion of campus recruitment by more than 5 percentage points.

Authorities also pledged to continue placing recent graduates in grassroots positions through existing programs, including village-level teaching, medical services and support work in less-developed regions. These programs are intended to provide entry-level public-sector opportunities for graduates while helping address staffing shortages in rural areas.

The plan also calls for maintaining teams of union social workers, expanding research assistant positions, and creating more university administrative and teaching assistant roles to provide graduates with campus-based employment and skills development opportunities before they enter full-time careers.

Local governments are required to monitor staffing levels for community workers and union social workers and promptly fill vacancies through recruitment.

The Ministry of Education estimates that the number of new college graduates will reach a record 12.7 million in 2026, up 480,000 from the previous year, underscoring mounting employment pressures in the world's second-largest economy.

The graduate-focused hiring push is part of broader measures outlined in the plan across three main areas: stabilizing employment in key sectors such as manufacturing, construction and hospitality; unlocking job potential in consumer services, infrastructure investment, emerging industries and public services; and improving employment quality through vocational training, better public services, stronger labor protections and changes in employment attitudes.

The plan also addressed concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence on employment.

According to the document, China will introduce guidelines to support the use of AI in upgrading traditional industries, including agriculture, while encouraging companies to provide retraining for workers affected by AI adoption.

The government also aims to expand demand for emerging occupations such as data labelers and AI trainers. In addition, it will launch skills training programs focused on AI and the service sector to help jobseekers and workers adapt to changing industrial needs.