Chongqing aims to lure more young people

Chongqing has introduced 48 measures aimed at making the city a more welcoming place for young people by 2027.

"The municipal government is taking the lead in favoring young people, with departments and districts joining forces to support young people," Zhang Ke, deputy secretary of the Communist Youth League of China Chongqing Committee, said at a news conference on Thursday.

According to the first provincial-level plan in China aimed at boosting initiatives for young people, Chongqing will establish 10 districts and counties that are particularly favorable places for them this year. All 41 districts and counties in the city are expected to follow suit by 2027.

The plan outlines 48 policies across six major areas: building service chains for young people and their children's education, enhancing mechanisms to promote young people's employment and entrepreneurship, increasing the supply of rental housing for young people, promoting marriage and parenthood among young people, restructuring the system protecting the rights of young people, and optimizing the environment for the physical and mental health of young people.

With a population of 32 million, Chongqing has about 9 million people between the age 13 and 35.

According to the local human resources and social security bureau, an action plan was launched in April to attract college graduates to the city for employment and entrepreneurship. By the end of May, some 177,100 college graduates had chosen to stay in or move to Chongqing for employment or to start a business, a 10.34 percent year-on-year increase.

In 2022, the central government released a document on the pilot construction of cities that are more appealing to young people.

Among the first 45 pilot areas, Chongqing's Jiangbei and Shapingba districts have promoted various measures to make themselves more attractive to young people, Zhang said. Three initiatives in Shapingba — practical activities, a youth assistance project in grassroots social governance, and an urban renovator competition — have since been promoted nationwide.

Jiangbei's Guanyinqiao Youth Night School and Wulidian Hezuocun Youth Night School — two of the most popular such schools in the city — have become exemplary models.