BEIJING -- China's job market has remained stable in the past five years, making a positive contribution to national development, an official said Thursday.

China has created more than 65 million jobs in urban areas since late 2012, and the registered unemployment rate in cities and towns has remained at low levels, according to Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security.

In particular, the employment rate of college graduates, an expanding group, exceeded 90 percent in the period. In 2017 alone, the number of college graduates surged to 7.95 million.

In the first 10 months of this year, around 11.9 million new jobs were created, surpassing the goal of an increase of 11 million new jobs for the whole year

The steady labor market in 2017 came on the back of sound economic growth, improved economic structure, dividends from ongoing reforms as well as supportive government policies, according to a Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security statement.

To ensure stable employment, China has rolled out an array of pro-employment policies for graduates, redundant workers, the disabled and migrant workers, while the country's entrepreneurial wave has helped fuel job creation.

In 2018, the government will continue to support employment and entrepreneurship, deepen social security reforms and improve the income allocation system, Yin said.