China's nascent artificial intelligence sector is proving instrumental in enhancing production efficiency, bolstering industrial upgrades, and driving the nation's economic growth. This technological revolution is reshaping industries and job structures, making cutting-edge digital technologies a primary force for progress and employment stability. Amid a complex international environment and with 12.22 million college graduates expected in 2025, an increase of 430,000 from the previous year, creating jobs and maintaining stable employment remain top government priorities.

Leading Chinese technology companies are actively recruiting AI talent to address these evolving demands. Baidu Inc., a Chinese tech heavyweight, is at the forefront of these efforts. They plan to train an additional 10 million AI experts over the next five years to benefit society and expand employment opportunities. To nurture future tech talent, Baidu will offer 21,000 internship positions for outstanding campus candidates over the next three years, significantly improving the intern-to-full-time employee conversion rate. In 2025, over 3,000 summer internship positions were offered, with a remarkable 87 percent focused on AI-related fields such as large language models, machine learning, and autonomous driving. Baidu is also launching its management trainee program and AIDU initiative to recruit top AI talent and cultivate future leaders, with dozens of management trainees and over 100 doctoral degree holders already contributing to core business and innovative AI development.

Alibaba Group is similarly intensifying its efforts to attract AI talent. Their spring recruitment program includes over 3,000 internship openings for fresh graduates, with nearly half dedicated to AI-related roles. Specifically, Alibaba Cloud's positions are over 80 percent AI-focused, and Amap, their mapping and local services business, has about 65 percent of its openings centered on AI. This recruitment drive targets students graduating between November 2025 and October 2026, offering internships across various business units including research and development, algorithms, and technology. Alibaba's Chief People Officer, Jiang Fang, emphasized the company's commitment to providing broad development space for young professionals to embrace the opportunities of the AI era. Alibaba Cloud, in collaboration with the Tongyi Lab, is also advancing global talent recruitment, providing fresh graduates with opportunities to engage in cutting-edge R&D of large language models and promote advancements in artificial general intelligence.

Beyond tech giants, the burgeoning platform economy is emerging as a significant source of job creation and economic growth in China. As new business models and consumption patterns evolve, new AI-related occupations have emerged. E-commerce platforms like Pinduoduo have made substantial contributions to employment. With approximately 14.2 million merchants, Pinduoduo has directly provided about 18.6 million employment opportunities and cumulatively created 55.32 million jobs across various aspects, including direct merchant employment, warehousing, distribution, logistics, platform staff, and indirect employment. Pinduoduo has also played a crucial role in rural vitalization and inclusive employment, helping over 300,000 new farmers return home to start businesses and providing stable incomes for disadvantaged groups, such as women like Xie Ruiling who found employment in Huaniu apple packaging through a local Pinduoduo store.

The "industry plus internet" model, as highlighted by experts, has enabled innovative technologies to impact a broader population, creating tens of millions of jobs across industry, agriculture, and services, and offering opportunities for disadvantaged groups. Short-video platform Kuaishou is another testament to this trend, having created 43.2 million jobs and given rise to 174 new occupations by the end of 2024. The platform directly provided approximately 23 million employment opportunities for short-video creators and livestreaming hosts in the past year, with a 14 percent increase in content creators earning over 10,000 yuan monthly compared to 2023. Livestreaming e-commerce, in particular, is vital for boosting consumption, expanding employment, and narrowing the urban-rural income gap.

Government authorities are actively supporting these employment trends through policy and financial incentives, skills training, and job services for students. Measures include increasing market-driven job creation and stabilizing public-sector employment, encouraging organizations and enterprises to hire fresh graduates and unemployed youths. Furthermore, the manufacturing sector is strengthening employment as China advances its high-end, intelligent, and green transformation. Home appliance manufacturer Midea Group, for instance, plans to offer over 2,000 job positions through campus recruitment this year, actively recruiting in fields like AI, robotics, new energy, and healthcare.