BEIJING -- China created a total of 6.54 million jobs in its urban areas in the first half of this year (H1), official data showed Thursday.

The figure accounted for 59 percent of the country's annual target, while the overall employment situation has remained stable, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

From January to June, 850,000 people with difficulty in finding jobs became employed, while 2.5 million unemployed people found new jobs.

The ministry noted that, despite the current challenges for employment, job posts have always outnumbered jobseekers in the Chinese job market.

The employment situation is likely to continue improving but requires more arduous work, the ministry said.

Efforts will be made to boost entrepreneurship and swift employment, organize more online and offline job-seeking activities, and shore up policy support for key groups of jobseekers, it added.