China created as many jobs as France's population since 2012

That's welcome news in Beijing, where leaders have already met their goal to add 11 million new urban jobs this year as they put greater focus on cutting debt and excess capacity

With China’s labour market looking the best it has in years, a new report shows new jobs created in urban areas over the last five years nearly equal the population of France.

Cities have added more than 65 million jobs since late 2012, keeping unemployment low, Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, said Thursday, according to a report by the official Xinhua News Agency. The employment rate for college graduates — including almost 8 million this year alone — exceeded 90 percent over that time, Yin said.

That’s welcome news in Beijing, where leaders have already met their goal