Employment levels in China would remain stable this year, despite job losses due to cuts in industrial sectors because of production overcapacity, said China’s Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, Yin Weimin, speaking on Monday.

The government official said – as quoted by Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua – keeping people employed would be “a very difficult task” this year, but the Government was still “confident” it could do so. He added emerging businesses would help boost employment.

China has said it plans to launch policies aimed at cutting industrial overcapacity, in order to ensure sustainable economic growth.

Preliminary estimates indicate industrial restructuring could make 1.3 million people in the coal industry and 500,000 workers from the steel sector redundant, according to Xinhua. The Chinese Central Government has said it would allocate 100 billion yuan (US$15.4 billion) over two years to help those workers laid off to find new jobs.

China’s economy grew by 6.9 percent year-on-year in 2015, the slowest annual rate in 25 years. But employment remained stable last year, with more than 13.1 million new jobs being created for urban residents, Xinhua said. The registered unemployment rate in cities was 4.1 percent at the end of 2015, according to the news agency.