China has listed 13 new occupational classifications to keep pace with economic and technological development, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The professions include technicians for artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, big data and cloud computing, as well as electronic sports specialists, unmanned aerial vehicle pilots, agricultural managers and industrial robot system operators.

The ministry said in a statement that with the massive utilization of AI, the IOT, big data and cloud computing, technicians in these fields are badly needed.

As industrial robots replace human labor in more factories in China, operating and maintaining robots are becoming hot professions.

The demand for UAV pilots has been growing rapidly thanks to an increasing number of UAVs used in plant protection, mapping, photography, supervision of farmland, logistics and other areas.

China published its first reference book on occupational classifications in 1999. It included 1,838 jobs. From 2004 to 2009, China listed 120 new jobs in 12 batches.

In 2010, China started revising the reference book by adding new jobs, and finally published the latest edition of the reference book in 2015. In the past four years, as new industries bred many new jobs, China renewed the listing of occupations.

The ministry said the regular releases of new job classifications could help boost employment, reform vocational education and training, and assist with policymaking in the labor market.

Xinhua