Published by ChinaMNC · Yanta
China’s New AI Employment Policy: What Foreign Founders Need to Know
China’s State Council has issued a new opinion on adapting to AI development and building an employment-friendly development model. For foreign founders operating or registering a company in China, this policy signals both opportunities and compliance considerations. This article summarizes the key points from the official source.
China’s New AI Employment Policy: What Foreign Founders Need to Know
The General Office of the State Council has released an opinion on adapting to artificial intelligence (AI) technology development and helping to build an employment-friendly development model. The policy, approved by the State Council, outlines how China aims to harness AI to create jobs, transform traditional roles, and mitigate potential employment disruptions. For foreign founders running or planning to register a company in China, understanding these measures can help align business strategies with national priorities and identify support mechanisms.
Background and Overall Direction
The opinion begins by reaffirming employment as the most fundamental aspect of people’s livelihoods. It emphasizes implementing the decisions of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on promoting high-quality full employment. The guiding principles include adhering to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implementing the spirit of the 20th Party Congress and subsequent plenary sessions, and maintaining a people-centered development philosophy. The policy stresses combining investment in physical assets with investment in people, balancing development and security, and prioritizing employment. The goal is to leverage AI to empower high-quality development, enhance job creation, improve traditional positions, raise employment quality, stimulate entrepreneurial vitality, and effectively mitigate job displacement effects, ultimately achieving inclusive development where technological progress, industrial upgrading, employment promotion, and livelihood improvement are coordinated.
Key Measures for Businesses
The opinion details eighteen specific measures across several areas. Foreign founders should note the following provisions that may affect their operations or present opportunities:
Expanding AI-Related Employment
The policy encourages the implementation of the “AI+” initiative. It suggests that eastern regions layout core AI industries, while central and western regions are guided to undertake upstream and downstream industries such as data labeling and intelligent terminal manufacturing, based on local conditions. This aims to create new employment growth points in the AI field. The policy also supports the cultivation of AI-native enterprises and specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative “little giant” enterprises. Eligible enterprises can be included in special loan support programs for stabilizing and expanding employment, as per regulations, to create more new jobs.
Support for SMEs and Entrepreneurship
An AI entrepreneurship support plan for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is to be implemented, using open-source ecosystems to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among SMEs. The policy calls for strengthening public service supply for digital transformation, encouraging the development of “small, fast, light, and precise” digital products and solutions. It ensures that SMEs and individual businesses can use intelligent production factors such as data and algorithms on an equal footing according to law. SMEs are supported in exploring low-cost, lightweight intelligent upgrading paths to lower the threshold for AI application and enhance their capacity to absorb employment.
The policy also leverages government investment funds, such as the National Venture Capital Guidance Fund and the National AI Industry Investment Fund, to support AI enterprise innovation in a market-oriented manner. It promotes high-level AI open-source communities and implements quality open-source projects to generate entrepreneurial and employment effects. Entrepreneurial models combining scientific achievements, industrial development, vocational skills, and livelihood needs with entrepreneurship are encouraged, with support policies and incubation services for AI application scenario innovation and technology transfer projects.
New Occupations and Traditional Sector Upgrades
To accelerate the development of new occupations in AI, the policy calls for quickly developing new occupation standards and expanding demand for roles such as digital managers, AI engineering technicians, and AI trainers. Localities are encouraged to add relevant professional title evaluation categories and conduct AI-related vocational skill level certification.
In traditional sectors, AI is to be used to transform and upgrade industries. The policy guides the adoption of human-machine collaboration in the intelligent development of industrial factors and the digital transformation of agriculture, tapping digital employment opportunities. It also promotes new service models driven by AI, extending producer services toward specialization and higher value chains, and fostering high-quality, diversified, and convenient consumer services, expanding service consumption scenarios such as experiential and personalized consumption, thereby expanding service sector employment capacity.
Mitigating Displacement and Risk Assessment
The opinion acknowledges the need to mitigate AI’s job displacement effects. It suggests prioritizing AI application in positions with labor shortages or high-risk environments. The application of AI in labor-intensive industries should be advanced steadily and prudently, minimizing impact on workers. Enterprises are encouraged to explore unemployment buffer period systems, notifying affected workers in advance and providing transition and reemployment support during large-scale AI deployment.
A job risk assessment mechanism for AI applications is to be established. The policy calls for comprehensive evaluation of AI’s employment impact and guiding innovation resources toward areas with greater job creation potential. For AI application projects in market access fields that may cause significant employment shocks, job risk assessments should be conducted simultaneously during review, with relevant departments coordinating transition and reemployment support. Other AI application projects should conduct assessments based on actual conditions.
Talent Development and Training
To cultivate AI innovative talent, universities and vocational schools (including technical schools) are encouraged to dynamically optimize disciplines and majors, rapidly layout urgently needed AI-related fields, strengthen interdisciplinary construction, increase AI “micro-major” offerings, and implement composite talent training projects. School-enterprise joint training is emphasized, supporting leading tech enterprises to participate in curriculum development, teacher training, and teaching facility upgrades. AI education at all stages is to be advanced, promoting student internships in enterprises and enterprise engineers teaching in schools to foster exploratory and creative thinking.
A special AI training plan is to be implemented under the “Skills Illuminate the Future” training action. Localities conducting project-based and order-based digital skills training should closely align with AI market demand and encourage college graduates, young people, migrant workers, and unemployed persons to participate in AI employment and entrepreneurship training projects. Public training bases, enterprise training bases, and high-skilled talent training bases are encouraged to offer AI-related skills training. General AI education is to be promoted via national smart education platforms and online learning platforms, with more public welfare courses. AI-related skills competitions are encouraged within existing vocational skills competitions.
Employment Services and Social Protection
The policy aims to use AI to improve the implementation of employment policies. It explores intelligent identification mechanisms to analyze service recipient characteristics and push employment policies intelligently, enhancing the effectiveness of “finding people for policies.” AI applications in policy evaluation, fund management, publicity, and consultation are to be strengthened.
To improve the intelligence level of employment services, the national employment information resource database, the national college student employment service platform, and the “China Employment” public service platform are to be upgraded with enhanced data collection, intelligent analysis, and precise services. The construction of national AI application pilot bases is to be advanced, and existing resources are to be used to explore intelligent upgrading of grassroots public employment service networks. AI application in labor dispute mediation and arbitration is to be deepened. AI empowerment of human resources services is encouraged, with market entities innovating new products and models such as job search and recruitment large models, intelligent interviews, and virtual reality training.
Support for transition and reemployment is to be increased. Eligible workers affected by AI-induced job displacement will receive employment assistance, including targeted career guidance, skills training, job recommendations, and entrepreneurship support. Unemployment insurance benefits are to be paid in full and on time to eligible insured unemployed persons.
Regarding worker rights protection, the policy calls for strengthening research on basic rights protection for workers under new social division characteristics such as human-machine collaboration, improving consultation and coordination mechanisms, and urging enterprises to legally protect workers’ rights to labor remuneration, rest and vacation, and occupational safety and health protection. The use of AI in human resource management is to be regulated, and illegal acts such as employment discrimination, false recruitment, and infringement of privacy and rest rights caused by algorithm abuse are to be governed according to law.
Social security systems for flexible employment and new employment forms are to be improved. The policy encourages flexible workers and those in new employment forms to participate in urban employee basic pension insurance and expands pilot programs for occupational injury protection for new employment forms. It aims to use the dividends of AI development to better protect employment and improve livelihoods.
An income distribution mechanism adapted to AI technology development is to be improved. Enterprises are guided to establish salary distribution systems suited to AI practitioners, improve incentive mechanisms for high-level talent oriented toward increasing knowledge value, and implement minimum wage classification reference guidelines for skilled talent. The policy encourages the development of innovative work forms such as intelligent agents, increased corporate investment in public-interest AI technology, services, and open-source communities, helping workers expand their capabilities and enhance labor value, enabling more workers to participate in and benefit from technological progress.
Monitoring, Research, and Risk Response
The policy strengthens monitoring and early warning of employment risks from AI application. It calls for cross-departmental sharing of AI-related industry and employment data, joint construction of regional and industry-specific intelligent employment data monitoring and analysis models, and enhanced pre-research and judgment of AI employment risks to improve sensitivity of monitoring and early warning.
Research on AI’s employment impact is to be strengthened. Special surveys on AI application’s employment impact will be conducted to continuously track AI penetration, job creation and displacement, and changes in skill demand. Relying on existing resources in universities and research institutions, a number of AI employment research centers will be established. National Social Science Fund and other research projects will be implemented to conduct forward-looking studies on the impact of AI technology development on employment and income distribution.
A risk response mechanism for AI application employment risks is to be improved. AI employment risks will be included in the scope of the mechanism for preventing and resolving large-scale unemployment risks, and response plans will be formulated. Joint response to AI-related labor relations risks will be strengthened, with risk consultation, judgment, and disposal.
Implementation and Coordination
The opinion concludes by emphasizing the need to uphold Party leadership throughout the process of adapting to AI technology development and promoting employment and entrepreneurship. All regions and departments are required to implement the opinion in light of actual conditions, further strengthen the employment-first policy orientation, consider the employment impact of AI applications, and accelerate the building of an employment-friendly development model. Human resources and social security departments and development and reform departments at all levels should strengthen coordination, promote the implementation of policies, and enhance publicity to create a favorable social atmosphere for employment and entrepreneurship. Major matters should be reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council in a timely manner according to procedures.
This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.
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