Among the 50 new professions released by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security since the third quarter of 2004, 31 appeared in 2005, Beijing Star Daily reported on Monday.

Among these new professions, those related to IT and advanced manufacturing topped the list. As people become more and more concerned about their health, some professions closely related to daily life, such as public nutritionist, healthcare supervisor and SPA advisor, have appeared for the first time.

According to Chen Yu, director of the Professional Skill Identification Center of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the new professions reflect the needs of the HR market to some extent. With the development of the economy, new professions are replacing the old in China.

The third batch of new professions was released on March 31 of this year by the ministry, which included credit administrator, network editor, real estate planner, job information analyst, toy designer, gold investment analyst, corporate culture expert, home textile product designer, micro-hydroelectric utilization worker and intelligent building administrator.

The fourth batch of new professions was released on October 25, and included health administrator, public nutritionist, SPA advisor, pet veterinarian, medical rescuer, inspector of computer software products, quality inspector of aquatic products, instructor for agricultural technologies, laser emitter production worker, small windmill electricity utilization worker and first-aid rescuer.

The fifth batch of new professions was released on December 12, which included gardening & environment designer, computer-aided music score creator, ceremony host, digital video composer, in-house environment controller, pre-print operator, integrated circuit tester, neon light maker, network course designer and water environment maintenance worker.

In this last batch, the professions of ceremony host, in-house environment controller and gardening & environment designer are closely related to people’s daily life, thus are expected to be in demand over the next few years.

“This reflects that with the increase of the Chinese people’s income there are higher requirements on living conditions,” said Chen.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security had entrusted the Center of China Professional Skill Training & Technology Instruction to set the criteria for the fifth batch of new professions.

(China.org.cn by Xu Lin, December 23, 2005)