The General Office of the State Council issues opinions on AI employment-friendly development, deploying 18 measures

On October 23, 2026, the General Office of the State Council published the "Opinions on Adapting to the Development of Artificial Intelligence Technology and Helping to Build an Employment-Friendly Development Model" (Guobanfa [2026] No. 29), which sets out 18 tasks across 6 areas and requires "taking into overall consideration the employment impact of AI application and accelerating the building of an employment-friendly development model."

The document proposes that AI be "given priority for promotion and application in positions where labor is scarce and the environment is highly hazardous," and that the "scope, intensity, and pace of AI application in labor-intensive industries be grasped steadily and prudently"; for AI application scenario projects in market access areas that may cause a relatively large employment shock, "an employment risk assessment shall be carried out simultaneously during review."

For enterprises, the document "encourages enterprises to explore the establishment of an unemployment buffer period system, and, in the process of large-scale promotion and application of AI, to inform affected workers in advance and provide support for transition and job reassignment." In addition, it is necessary to "accelerate the development of new occupations in the AI field," encourage regular higher education institutions and vocational schools to "make unconventional arrangements for disciplines and majors urgently needed in the AI field," "expand pilot programs for occupational injury protection for people in new forms of employment," and "include the employment risks of AI application within the scope of response under the mechanism for preventing and resolving the risk of large-scale unemployment."

Opinions on Adapting to the Development of Artificial Intelligence Technology and Helping to Build an Employment-Friendly Development Model

Guobanfa [2026] No. 29

To the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and to all ministries and commissions of the State Council and all institutions directly under the State Council:

Employment is the most basic livelihood issue. In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on promoting high-quality full employment, actively adapt to the development of artificial intelligence technology, and help build an employment-friendly development model, with the approval of the State Council, the following opinions are hereby put forward.

I. Overall Requirements

Hold to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Party and the spirit of the second, third, fourth, and fifth plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, adhere to the close integration of investment in physical assets and investment in people, adhere to the coordination of development and security, adhere to the employment-first orientation, take the empowerment of high-quality development by AI as an opportunity, take adapting to technological development to promote high-quality full employment as the goal, take building an employment-friendly development model as the direction, actively enhance the positive effects of AI in creating employment opportunities, empowering traditional positions, improving employment quality, and stimulating entrepreneurial vitality, effectively mitigate the employment substitution impact of AI application, and strive to achieve inclusive development in which technological progress and industrial upgrading are coordinated with employment promotion and livelihood improvement.

II. Strengthen the Employment Creation Effect of Artificial Intelligence

(1) Expand new space for AI employment in emerging fields. Deeply implement the "AI+" initiative, encourage the eastern region to lay out core AI industries, guide the central and western regions to undertake upstream and downstream industries such as data annotation and intelligent terminal manufacturing in accordance with local conditions, and accelerate the formation of new employment growth points in the AI field. Accelerate the cultivation of AI-native enterprises and specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giant" enterprises, include eligible enterprises in the scope of support under special loans for financial assistance to enterprises for stabilizing and expanding employment in accordance with regulations, and create more new jobs and new opportunities.

(2) Cultivate new momentum for stabilizing and expanding employment in small, medium, and micro enterprises. Implement the AI small and medium-sized enterprise entrepreneurship support plan, and use the open-source ecosystem to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among small and medium-sized enterprises. Strengthen the supply of public services for digital transformation, encourage the development of "small, fast, light, and precise" digital products and solutions, ensure that small, medium, and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households can use intelligent production factors such as data and algorithms equally in accordance with the law, support small, medium, and micro enterprises in exploring low-cost and lightweight intelligent upgrading paths, further lower the threshold for AI application, and enhance the capacity to absorb employment.

(3) Create new models of employment and entrepreneurship in the AI field. Give full play to the role of government investment funds such as the National Venture Capital Guidance Fund and the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, and support the innovative development of enterprises in the AI field in a market-based manner. Build high-level AI open-source communities, deploy and implement a batch of high-quality open-source projects, and create an effect in which entrepreneurship drives employment. Promote models of "scientific and technological achievements + entrepreneurship," "industrial development + entrepreneurship," "vocational skills + entrepreneurship," and "livelihood needs + entrepreneurship," implement entrepreneurship support policies around entrepreneurial projects such as AI application scenario innovation and transformation of technological achievements, and provide entrepreneurship incubation services.

(4) Accelerate the development of new occupations in the AI field. Around the cultivation of AI scenarios and large-scale application, accelerate the development of new occupations and the release of new occupational standards, and expand demand for new occupations and new job types such as digital management professionals, AI engineering technicians, and AI trainers. Encourage local areas to add relevant professional titles evaluation specialties in light of the needs of AI industry development, and promptly carry out AI-related vocational skill level certification.

III. Build an Employment-Friendly AI Upgrading Path

(5) Tap the employment potential of AI in traditional fields. Give play to the role of AI in helping traditional industries transform and upgrade, guide the better implementation of human-machine collaboration models in the intelligent development of all factors of industry and the digital and intelligent transformation and upgrading of agriculture, and tap digital and intelligent employment opportunities in traditional fields. Accelerate the building of AI-driven new service methods, advance the extension of producer services toward specialization and the high end of the value chain by field, promote the high-quality, diversified, and convenient development of consumer services, expand new service consumption scenarios such as experiential consumption and personalized consumption, and expand the employment capacity of the service industry.

(6) Mitigate the employment substitution impact of AI application. Give play to the role of AI in improving the employment environment, raising the level of occupational safety, and improving work quality and efficiency, and give priority to promoting and applying it in positions where labor is scarce and the environment is highly hazardous. Grasp steadily and prudently the scope, intensity, and pace of AI application in labor-intensive industries, and minimize the impact on practitioners as much as possible. Encourage enterprises to explore the establishment of an unemployment buffer period system, and, in the process of large-scale promotion and application of AI, inform affected workers in advance and provide support for transition and job reassignment.

(7) Establish a mechanism for assessing the employment risk of AI applications. Comprehensively assess the impact of AI applications on employment, and guide innovation resources toward areas with greater potential for job creation. For AI application scenario projects in the market access field that may cause a relatively large employment shock, carry out employment risk assessment simultaneously during review; relevant departments shall make overall arrangements for employment support for job transitions and reassignments. For AI application scenario projects in other fields, carry out employment risk assessment in light of actual conditions.

IV. Enhance Workers' Digital Literacy and Employability

(8) Collaboratively cultivate AI innovative talent. Encourage regular higher education institutions and vocational schools (including technical colleges) to accelerate the dynamic optimization of discipline and major offerings, make extraordinary arrangements for disciplines and majors urgently needed in the AI field, strengthen the development of related interdisciplinary majors, increase the placement of AI "micro-majors," implement composite talent cultivation projects, and cultivate more composite AI talent. Strengthen joint school-enterprise cultivation, and support leading science and technology enterprises in participating in curriculum development, teacher training, and upgrading of teaching facilities. Solidly advance AI education across all stages of schooling, promote student internships in enterprises and enterprise engineers teaching on campus, and cultivate students' exploratory and creative thinking abilities.

(9) Implement a special AI training plan. Deeply implement the "Skills Light Up the Future" training initiative. When local areas carry out project-based and order-based digital technology and skills training, they must closely align with market demand in the AI field, and encourage college graduates and other young people, migrant workers, unemployed persons, and others to participate in AI-field employment and entrepreneurship training projects. Encourage local areas to actively carry out AI-related skills training relying on public training bases, enterprise training bases, high-skilled talent training bases, and others. Advance AI general education across society, and relying on the National Smart Education Public Service Platform, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's online learning platform for technical and skilled talent, continuing education online platforms, and others, launch more public welfare courses. Encourage the active conduct of AI-related skills competitions within existing vocational skills competitions.

V. Promote AI-Empowered High-Quality Employment Policy Services

(10) Use AI to help implement employment policies. Explore the establishment of an intelligent identification mechanism for policy implementation, analyze the characteristics of service recipients, intelligently push employment policies, and improve the quality and effectiveness of "policies finding people." Strengthen the application of AI in employment policy evaluation, fund management, publicity and interpretation, and consultation.

(11) Improve the intelligent level of employment services. Upgrade and improve the national employment information resource database, the National College Student Employment Service Platform, and the "China Employment" public service platform, and strengthen data aggregation, intelligent analysis, and precise services. Advance the construction of national AI application pilot-testing bases, coordinate existing resources to explore the intelligent upgrading of grassroots public employment service networks, and deepen the application of AI in areas such as labor and personnel dispute mediation and arbitration. Promote AI empowerment of human resources services, and encourage business entities to innovate and optimize new products and new models such as large models for job seeking and recruitment, intelligent interviews, and virtual reality training.

(12) Increase support for employment during transitions and reassignments. In accordance with regulations, provide employment assistance to workers affected by AI application employment substitution who meet the conditions, and provide targeted services such as career guidance, skills training, job recommendations, and entrepreneurship support. In accordance with regulations, promptly and fully pay unemployment insurance benefits to relevant insured unemployed persons.

VI. Improve the Worker Rights Protection System and the Social Security System

(13) Optimize the worker rights protection system adapted to human-machine collaboration. Strengthen research on the protection of workers' basic rights in light of new characteristics of the social division of labor such as human-machine collaboration, improve consultation and coordination mechanisms for worker rights, and urge enterprises to protect workers' lawful rights and interests in accordance with the law, including obtaining labor remuneration, rest and leave, and access to labor safety and health protection. Regulate the application of AI in the field of human resource management, and govern in accordance with the law illegal and non-compliant acts such as employment discrimination, fraudulent recruitment, and infringement of privacy rights and rest rights caused by the abuse of algorithms and other means.

(14) Improve the social security system for flexible employment and workers in new forms of employment. Adapt to the development of AI technology, enhance the flexibility and inclusiveness of the social security system, encourage and support flexible workers and workers in new forms of employment to participate in urban employee basic old-age insurance, and expand pilot programs for occupational injury protection for workers in new forms of employment. Actively make good use of the dividends of AI development to better safeguard employment and improve people's livelihoods.

(15) Improve the income distribution mechanism adapted to the development of AI technology. Guide enterprises to establish and improve remuneration distribution systems that suit the characteristics of practitioners in the AI field, improve the wage distribution incentive mechanism for high-level talent oriented toward increasing the value of knowledge, and implement the classified reference guidelines for minimum wages for skilled talent. Cultivate and develop innovative work forms such as intelligent agents, encourage enterprises to increase investment in public-interest AI technologies, services, and open-source communities, help workers expand the boundaries of their capabilities and enhance the value of their labor, and promote more workers to actively participate in technological progress and benefit from it.

VII. Improve the Employment Monitoring, Early Warning, and Risk Response System for AI Applications

(16) Strengthen monitoring and early warning of employment risks from AI applications. Strengthen cross-departmental sharing of data on AI-related industries, employment, and other areas, and jointly build regional and industry-specific intelligent monitoring and analysis models for employment data. Strengthen preliminary research and judgment of employment risks from AI applications, and improve the sensitivity of employment risk monitoring and early warning.

(17) Strengthen research on the employment impact of AI applications. Carry out special surveys on the employment impact of AI applications, and continuously track situations such as the penetration of AI applications, job creation and substitution, and changes in skills demand. Relying on existing resources such as universities and research institutions, establish a batch of AI employment research centers. Well implement national social science fund and other research projects, and conduct forward-looking research on the impact of AI technology development on employment and income distribution.

(18) Improve the response mechanism for employment risks from AI applications. Incorporate employment risks from AI applications into the scope of the mechanism for preventing and resolving large-scale unemployment risks, and make overall plans for risk response contingency plans. Strengthen joint response to AI-related labor relations risks, and do a good job in risk consultation, judgment, and handling.

VIII. Strengthen Organization and Implementation

Persist in carrying out the Party's leadership throughout the entire process and all aspects of the work of adapting to the development of AI technology to promote employment and entrepreneurship. All regions and relevant departments must, in light of actual conditions, earnestly implement this Opinion, further strengthen the orientation of employment-first policy, comprehensively 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 must strengthen overall coordination, promote the effective implementation of various policy measures, strengthen publicity and guidance, and create a favorable social atmosphere conducive to promoting employment and entrepreneurship. Major matters shall be promptly requested and reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council in accordance with procedures.

General Office of the State Council

October 16, 2026

(This document is publicly released) www.smartcity.team

Statement: Please indicate the source as "Smart City Industry Analysis (www.smartcity.team)" and the relevant author when reprinting. Except for original content, some information on this site comes from the Internet. If the relevant content involves infringement of rights, please contact the contact information at the bottom for deletion.

[Digital Technology Special Research] Community

In-depth peer exchange, focusing on smart city and digital technology industry research and material accumulation.

Continuously updating the latest industry white papers, industry research, policy developments, and implementation solutions, helping industry practitioners efficiently accumulate knowledge and share experience.

Massive premium content is continuously iterated, providing a cutting-edge perspective, connecting industry talent, carrying out case co-creation and resource exchange, and jointly building a high-quality industry exchange atmosphere.

#post-##

Recommended for you

"Zhejiang Province Industrial Intelligent Agent Platform Construction Guide (Trial)" issued: includes four core modules: infrastructure, core engine, intelligent agent construction, and application interaction

Several measures of Hefei City to accelerate intelligent agents leading high-quality development: 25 measures, centering on improving basic model capabilities, tackling underlying common technologies, multi-field applications, intelligent terminal integration, scientific research, large scientific facilities, quantum technology, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, security governance, and factor supply, to promote intelligent agent technology R&D, scenario applications, and industrial ecosystem construction

The Ministry of Transport issued the "Guidelines for AI Application Scenarios in the Water Transport Field": proposing 22 AI application scenarios in the water transport field from three aspects: safety improvement, quality and efficiency enhancement, and green transformation

Implementation plans related to Jiangsu Province's support for AI innovation and development: "Jiangsu Province Token Voucher Implementation Plan," "Jiangsu Province Corpus Voucher Implementation Plan," "Jiangsu Province Model Voucher Implementation Plan"

Hubei Province's in-depth implementation of the "AI+" three-year action plan (2026-2028): implement six major "AI+" special actions, build a provincial-level AI public service platform by 2028, cultivate 100 intelligent agent benchmark applications, expand 500 high-value application scenarios, and achieve a penetration rate of new-generation intelligent terminals and intelligent agents exceeding 80%