A stream of new occupations is emerging at the forefront of China's new technologies, industries and business models, mirroring industrial upgrading and improvements in people's livelihoods.

In the low-altitude economy sector alone, newly added positions such as drone swarm flight planners, low-altitude logistics specialists, and low-altitude intelligent connected system administrators stand out in the eighth batch of new professions recently released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and other government departments.

Occupations tied to the booming digital economy are also reshaping work in China, including AI engineering technicians, intelligent connected vehicle testers, embodied intelligent robot application technicians, and microgrid administrators, among others.

The release of 11 new occupations and 23 new job types in the eighth batch marks a fresh update to the country's occupational catalog. Such updates serve as a talent "barometer" reflecting the pulse of China's industrial transformation, industry insiders noted.

Take the low-altitude economy for example. The first batch of new occupations, released in 2019, introduced the drone pilots to meet the urgent demand for drone operations. The second batch added drone assembly and maintenance technicians, a role created to close the gap in equipment operation and maintenance for the emerging drone industry.

As the drone industry has grown, new positions in the seventh and eighth batches have taken on responsibilities that expand from single technical operations to cross-cutting application fields such as logistics delivery, cultural tourism operations, and urban governance.

The continuous release of new occupations reflects China's industrial system moving toward higher-end, smarter and greener development, said Li Qiang, vice president of online job-seeking platform Zhaopin.

"Policy support expands and underpins the talent supply, while the job market absorbs in tandem. New occupations are both a precise mapping of the industrial development trends and a positive guide for the talent market," Li said.

Beyond industrial upgrading, changes in China's new occupations also reflect evolving demands in people's livelihoods, with new jobs in the modern services sector continuing to expand.

Industry insiders noted that as people's quality of life has been improving, producer services have moved toward specialization and the higher end of the value chain, while consumer services have developed toward higher quality, greater diversity, and convenience.

The size of China's service sector is expected to expand beyond 100 trillion yuan (about 14.8 trillion U.S. dollars) in the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), according to the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner.

Industry insiders say the consumer services sector will be explored to unlock economic growth potential, with broad scope for developing residential services, health services, aged care, and childcare. Therefore, progress in this sector is expected to generate even more new jobs.

China has been dynamically updating its occupational classification catalog. Since 2019, the country has issued eight batches of 121 new occupations.

In 2020, the second batch introduced health-related new professions including healthcare attendants and rehabilitation assistive technology consultants. Subsequent batches continued this momentum, adding niche occupations and job types such as ski patrol rescuers, family education instructors, age-friendly renovation designers, and incense-making artisans.

China's State Council has issued a plan to implement the employment-first strategy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, calling for stronger synergy among macroeconomic policies on employment and highlighting efforts to stabilize employment in labor-intensive industries, expand employment in the service sector, and tap employment potential in emerging fields.

"The emergence of new occupations is a direct response to new applications of technologies, fresh market changes, and new consumer demands," said Li Chang'an, a researcher at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies under the University of International Business and Economics.

"Every update of the occupational catalog will inject more talent-driven momentum into the country's industrial development in the future alongside the advancement of the occupational standard system, alignment between talent cultivation and supply, and rules and systems to safeguard the progress of the sector," Li added.