Central China's Henan province, a major economic and human resources hub, has established an integrated employment promotion mechanism that creates an average of 1.2 million new urban jobs annually as part of broader efforts to achieve high-quality and full employment, according to the Henan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security.

With a working-age population of around 57 million and a record 996,000 college graduates expected in 2026, the province has adopted an employment-first model. Under the framework, fiscal, monetary and investment policies are coordinated with employment goals. In 2025 alone, 461,400 job positions were created through 53 targeted measures, the department said.

To bridge the gap between talent supply and industry demand, Henan is restructuring its higher education programs. It has added 127 undergraduate majors with strong job prospects and eliminated 41 majors with low employment rates.

Meanwhile, skills training has been ramped up. The province now has 20.36 million skilled workers — including 7.2 million highly skilled personnel — ranking second nationwide. A project-based training model combining job demand, skills assessment and employment services has been rolled out.

Henan has introduced multiple initiatives for young job seekers. These include an internship program offering more than 130,000 positions annually and a research internship model for domestic and overseas graduates.

Rural migrant workers, numbering more than 30 million, benefit from interprovincial labor alliances and 220 well-known labor brands. The province also maintains poverty-alleviation employment for more than 2.1 million people and creates more than 40,000 public welfare positions each year for vulnerable groups.

The province is embracing the digital and platform economy. Flexible employment now involves 8.2 million people, including more than 350,000 in livestreaming e-commerce. Henan has also launched a 15-billion-yuan ($2.2 billion) venture capital guidance fund and more than 670 innovation platforms, supporting over 12,000 startups or teams.

The province has also introduced measures to support the micro-drama industry, which already employs more than 50,000 people.

To protect workers' rights, the province has tightened oversight of recruitment practices, exposed fraudulent cases and maintained hotlines and online platforms for complaints.