People participate in the 2019 Chongqing International Half Marathon in Banan District, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, December 8, 2019. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chongqing - During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), Chongqing has made significant progress in safeguarding the rights and benefits of young employees while promoting youth entrepreneurship, Yu Haoran, Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Statistics, said at a press conference on September 30.

To monitor youth development, the Chongqing Committee of the Communist Youth League and the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Statistics jointly established a statistical monitoring system for the Chongqing Medium- and Long-Term Youth Development Plan (2018–2025). Covering young people aged 14 to 35, the system collects data from 29 municipal-level departments to produce 63 reports and tracks 41 core indicators like population, education, culture, employment, and health. Annual monitoring reports have been published for five consecutive years, offering an overview of youth development in Chongqing.

These data showed that in 2024, 6.71 million young people participated in pension insurance, up 9.8% from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020); 3.35 million were covered by unemployment insurance, up 52.1%; and 2.98 million participated in work injury insurance, up 4.5%. These gains, achieved despite a declining youth population, show steady progress in employment services and social protection, according to Yu.

Youth-led entrepreneurship is also thriving. In 2024, young people established 26,400 companies, accounting for 52.1% of all new enterprises in the city, a 21.7-percentage-point increase from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. This highlights the role of youth as a driving force in Chongqing's market development. Meanwhile, 21,300 youth-led companies were closed or deregistered, 27.6% of the total, a 10.6-percentage-point decline, indicating that the success rate of youth entrepreneurship continues to improve.

Meanwhile, Chongqing has strengthened the protection of teenagers and provided legal aid for minors. By 2024, the city had enacted 11 regulations safeguarding teenagers' rights, up from 9 at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. Legal aid institutions for teenagers now number 42, providing full coverage for designated legal defense and professionalized case handling.

Social assistance for teenagers has expanded, with 40 minor protection centers providing citywide coverage until 2024—nine more than at the end of the previous five-year period.

Services for disabled youth have also improved. In 2024, Chongqing had 118,800 disabled young people, down 6.3% from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, reflecting progress in prevention and rehabilitation. Among them, 889 received higher education, a 14.6% increase, giving more young people the opportunity to transform their lives through knowledge, Yu added.

China's five-year plans act as a comprehensive blueprint for the country's economic and social development, setting out goals, strategies, and priorities for each planning cycle.