China's cabinet has released a provisional regulation on the human resources market which will take effect in October. The regulation aims to improve employment agency services, help maintain the rise in job opportunities and boost the economy.

The regulation is the country's first administrative regulation on job hunting, hiring, and associated services in the human resources market. Premier Li Keqiang signed the regulation which will come into force on 1 October.

According to news site, Xinhua, the move is aimed at bringing order to activities on the market, promoting rational movement and optimal allocation of human resources, and supporting employment and entrepreneurship. The regulation also aims to improve the development of China's human resource service sector by clearly defining the range of services, behaviour norms, management requirements and the role of the government, while attracting the participation of the private sector.

According to the new regulation, human resources will need to be “fair and credible” and service standards should be improved to guide, regulate and supervise the employment market.

Governments at or above county-level will be required to establish online systems that provides information on local labour demand. International cooperation and exchanges on human resources based on equality and mutual benefits will also be encouraged.

Local governments or agencies will not be allowed to set unlawful restrictions on the rational movement of human resources, in terms of household registration, birth place or identity.

Those companies that provide human resources for a profit will only be allowed to start their intermediary business after obtaining permission from the relevant human resource and social insurance administrations.

Recruiting agencies will be expected to follow a code of conduct on internet security and ensure the credibility and legality of recruiting information released to the public through discrete checking. Any discriminative and confidential information must not be disclosed or leaked to job applicants and agencies must not abuse their power to infringe on individual’s legal rights.

"In drafting the regulation, we have widely solicited opinions online from the public and suggestions from ministries, local governments and industry associations,” Du Yaling, director of the department for social management legislation of the Ministry of Justice, said. “Changes had been made to the draft based on feedback from employment agencies, companies and their employees and experts.”

Zhang Yizhen, vice-minister of human resources and social security, commented, “Many job agencies are small and fall short in using new technologies such as big data, cloud computing and mobile internet. Therefore, a new regulation is vital for improving China's human resources markets, promoting a free and healthy flow of talent and better serving employment and high-quality development.”