19 new professions gain official recognition

China has officially recognized 19 new professions, with the majority closely related to cutting-edge technologies and modern manufacturing.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Wednesday that the 19 professions include biological engineering technician, dental hygienist, generative artificial intelligence system operator and livestreaming anchor.

Their official recognition was jointly authorized by the ministry, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The ministry also released a guideline defining the work of the new professions. For example, a dental hygienist is defined as a professional in oral disease prevention and dental health protection who masters the skills of assisting a dentist by performing adjuvant therapy for dental disease treatment.

A generative artificial intelligence system operator uses AI-related technologies and tools to design, train, update and maintain an AI system, according to the guideline.

"Recognizing new professions is of great importance of developing new jobs, guiding the healthy development of vocational education and bettering workers' abilities and professionalism, which can also promote employment and entrepreneurship," the ministry said.

Zhou Yan, 20, who is studying computer science and communications in Beijing, said he is happy that more information technology jobs have earned official recognition in recent years, because it offers more career possibilities for young people.

"Information technology is playing a more important role in daily life," he said.

"We can do many other jobs rather than programmers after graduation. I'm very interested in artificial intelligence technology and plan to develop my career in this area, and I think the government's efforts to recognize new professions in the sector will inspire more young people."

Li Qiang, vice-president of the recruitment portal Zhaopin, said rapidly developing digital technology has incubated a large number of new professions.

He said the official recognition of the new professions shows the government's increasing attention to new industries that can create new job opportunities.

"It's a move to regulate the job market and protect people's working rights when serving these new professions," Li said.

He said some of the new professions had already attracted large numbers of workers before getting official recognitions.

"For example, last year, from January to April, there were over 70,000 job openings recruiting biological engineering technicians on our platform," he said.

"Authorizing these professions with official recognition can help reduce job prejudices and protect the workers' rights."

Li added that more new professions will emerge with the development of the economy and new industries and technologies, which will inject new drive into the nation's high-quality advancement.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security started to improve the nation's profession classification and recognition work in 2019, aiming to develop new growth points for the job market. It recognized 74 new professions from 2019 to 2022, such as healthcare practitioner and agricultural manager.