China created more than 3.3 million new jobs in the first quarter of this year, Yin Chengji, a spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said at a news conference on April 25.

Nearly 1.4 million people were re-employed during the same period. The registered unemployment rate at the end of March stood at 4.1 percent, the same as at the end of 2011, he said.

The country will continue to make efforts to boost employment and the central government plans to allocate 43.9 billion yuan ($7 billion) this year to help with the work, according to Yin.

Priority will be given to addressing employment of college graduates, said Yin.

"We encourage them to find jobs at small and medium-sized enterprises and in central and western regions where there are great demands for talent," he said. "We'll also offer college graduates favorable policies to help them start their own businesses."