China is drafting specific measures of an action plan to create a more favorable environment for domestic and international human resources companies, with the aim of building an HR market worth 2 trillion yuan ($300 billion) by 2020.

The action plan was published on the website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Oct 11.

Last year, the country was home to 26,700 HR service providers, employing about 553,000 people and earning combined revenue of 1.18 trillion yuan, according to the ministry.

Industry revenue has grown by about 20 percent per year on average, Lu Aihong, a ministry spokesman, said at a news conference in Beijing on Nov 1.

“Yet China’s HR industry still fails to meet the demand created by the country’s economic development and lags behind that of developed countries,” he said.

In addition to fostering a massive HR market, the action plan also envisions having about 100 leading HR enterprises and increasing the number of employees in the industry to 600,000.

While vowing to create a favorable environment for prestigious international HR service providers, the plan encourages domestic enterprises to strengthen their global cooperation and broaden their international business reach.

Another goal of the plan is to improve the quality of service in China’s HR industry and make it more market-oriented and competitive in the international market, so it can serve national strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the coordinated development of the Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei province region.

They will also promote development of the industry with the help of big data, cloud computing, mobile internet and artificial intelligence.

Lu said the ministry will coordinate with other departments to draft specific, targeted measures to boost the development of the industry and simplify work procedures for companies to become licensed to deliver HR services.

China’s leadership has attached great importance to the HR service industry. In his report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping said China will foster new growth areas and drivers of growth in six economic sectors, including human resources services and midrange and high-end consumption.

Lu added that China will draft more preferential policies to support the development of technical education for the cultivation of skilled talent. The ministry is also drafting measures to increase the salaries of skilled workers.