Top officials acknowledged on Saturday that China must take further action to improve employment and stabilize its property market, as they face challenges in revitalizing the country’s struggling economy.

The city of Beijing is currently experiencing difficulties with a long-lasting crisis in its property market, a high rate of unemployment among young people, and a worldwide decline in demand for Chinese products.

In the middle of 2023, the rate of unemployment among young people reached a historic high of 21.3%, leading officials to temporarily halt the release of monthly data.

For several months now, home prices have been decreasing, causing major property developers to face financial difficulties.

During a weeklong annual meeting of the nation’s rubber-stamp parliament on Saturday, authorities recognized the challenges in overturning both directions.

Wang Xiaoping, the minister of human resources and social security, stated that there is still a significant amount of pressure on employment and unresolved structural issues.

Wang stated that a segment of workers are confronted with difficulties and issues in their employment. It is necessary to put in more effort to ensure stable employment.

However, she expressed confidence that Beijing will be able to maintain the ongoing stability of the employment landscape.

Housing Minister Ni Hong stated to journalists that addressing the issues in the real estate market, which has historically made up approximately a quarter of China’s economy, continues to be a challenge.

He stated that the market stabilization task remains highly challenging and mentioned state initiatives to decrease interest rates and down payment requirements.

According to Ni, real estate companies facing bankruptcy should do so, and those in need of restructuring should be restructured. He also stated that individuals who harm the public’s interests should be promptly investigated and legally dealt with.

Even though the housing market is facing significant challenges, he emphasized that Beijing’s priority of preventing major risks in the property industry has been upheld.

The main topics of discussion in this week’s meetings in Beijing were the economy and security.

On Tuesday, top leaders set an ambitious growth target of around 5% for 2024 — a goal analysts said was ambitious given the headwinds facing the Chinese economy.

Prime Minister Li Qiang recognized that achieving this goal would be a challenging task, as there are still risks and uncertainties in the economy.

Investors are demanding more significant measures from the government to support the struggling economy.