China will offer more effective, fairer, smart, and convenient public services by optimizing rights protection and social insurance coverage to enhance people's well-being and sense of happiness and security.

Wang Xiaoping, minister of human resources and social security, said at a news conference in Beijing on Saturday that the ministry will continue exploring effective ways to protect people in new forms of employment — such as delivery men and women workers and ride-hailing drivers — from work-related injuries, and expand social insurance coverage to better secure these workers this year.

"The ministry has taken explorative steps to set up pilot points of work-related injury protection for people in new forms of employment in recent years, with the program so far involving 25 million workers in 17 provinces," she said, adding that the ministry will continue to expand the program nationwide.

She said the ministry will keep encouraging people in new forms of employment to join the national social insurance program and help mediate their disputes.

Noting the emergence of new professions and jobs such as artificial intelligence trainers and drone pilots in sectors of the digital economy, modern services, and smart manufacturing in recent years, Wang said the nation will continue to develop new professions and roll out standards to better regulate the development of these professions and evaluate workers' performances.

She added that the ministry will also keep optimizing policies and mechanisms on payment and social insurance to streamline procedures for entrepreneurship or retirement, as well as companies' recruitment, to improve people's livelihood.