A total of 73,500 jobs were created in the urban area of Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province in the first half of this year due to efforts by local authorities to stabilize employment.

The figure accounted for 73.5 percent of the target set by the city for this year and represented a year-on-year growth of 8.5 percent, according to the Huzhou Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security.

A total of 16,800 unemployed urban residents from Huzhou were hired over the six-month period. The registered unemployment rate was 2.25 percent.

The employment growth can be partly attributed to efforts by local authorities to ramp up recruitment.

The city has offered 210,000 job vacancies through 534 job fairs online and offline this year so far.

In addition, it has also staged 272 promotional events in colleges located in areas including Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Qinghai province and Shaanxi province, attracting 68,500 college students to seek employment in the city.

Over the same period, 37 activities to boost labor cooperation with other areas in the nation were organized by local authorities. These activities drew more than 10,800 migrant workers from outside the province to work in Huzhou.

The local government has also stepped up financial support for start-ups.

In the first half of this year, 360 million yuan worth of guaranteed loans were issued to start-ups in the city, with part of the interests being covered by authorities in the form of subsidies, which were valued at 15.89 million over the period.

Huzhou is currently home to 38 college startup parks and 11 guiding stations for employment and entrepreneurship.

The six-month period saw 3,500 college students set up businesses in the city.