The year 2025 marks the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) which aims to upgrade and expand basic public services to ensure universal access and inclusiveness in order for development gains to benefit everyone in a fair manner, and help create a greater sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security.
Improving people’s livelihood and welfare is one of the main goals for the country’s economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
A large number of five-year plans related to employment, income, education, medical care, social security, and basic public services have been implemented since 2021, along with a series of measures aiming to benefit the people.
In 2024, the country solidly promoted high-quality development amid global uncertainty, making progress in areas such as income of residents, employment, living conditions and life expectancy.
The country’s per capita disposable income stood at 41,314 yuan (about $5,747) in 2024, up 5.3 percent year on year in nominal terms, while representing an increase of 5.1 percent after deducting price factors, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Incomes of rural residents, up 6.6 percent year on year in nominal terms, grew faster than incomes of city dwellers, who enjoyed increases of 4.6 percent in 2024.
The surveyed urban unemployment rate on average in China stood at 5.1 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from 2023.
NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui attributed the stable employment situation last year to the expansion of the economy, the increasing job opportunities in the service sector, and the government’s “employment first” policy.
Meanwhile, by the end of 2024, 33.05 million people who have emerged from poverty were in employment, marking the fourth consecutive year that the figure has come in at above 30 million.
Social security card holders reached nearly 1.39 billion by the end of last year, including 1.07 billion digital social security card users.
The development of several emerging business forms, models and industries also drives employment improvement, Fu said.
New measures
Recently, the Chinese central authorities have held intensive meetings to map out a series of goals on improving people’s livelihood, covering areas such as employment, housing, health, elderly care, consumption, and food supply.
According to a meeting held by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, in 2025, a targeted employment support program for key sectors, industries, urban-rural grassroots, as well as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will be implemented, establishing a mechanism for collecting and releasing information on job positions related to major projects.
The ministry will also accelerate the research and formulation of relevant policies and measures to further enhance the appeal of the private pension system.
Regarding the housing market, China will focus on unlocking housing demand by fully implementing a mix of policies to support people’s needs for buying their first homes or improving their housing conditions, according to a two-day national housing and urban-rural development work conference.
In addition, greater efforts will be made to expand the supply of affordable housing, offering more support to new urban residents, young people and migrant workers to meet their housing needs.
A total of 18 provincial-level regions in China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang, have launched the 12356 mental health assistance hotline, aiming to provide the public with more accessible, high-quality mental health services.
Other provinces are actively progressing with similar initiatives to ensure comprehensive mental health services coverage nationwide, said Hu Qiangqiang, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC).
The NHC has designated 2025 to 2027 as “pediatrics and mental health service years,” and outlined other key measures such as promoting mental health knowledge among key groups and guaranteeing that every city-level region has at least one hospital with specialized psychological and sleep disorder clinics.
This week, China unveiled the “No. 1 central document” for 2025, the first policy statement released by China’s central authorities this year, urging efforts to enhance the country’s capacity to ensure the supply of important agricultural products such as grain, and to consolidate and expand its achievements in poverty alleviation.
“Our task is to keep the rice bowl firmly in our own hands,” said Wang Jinchen, deputy director of the Development Planning Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. “The government aims to stabilize the grain production area, enhance yields and reduce losses through a series of targeted actions.”
