BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 2.67 million people found jobs in China's urban areas in the first quarter of this year, making up nearly 30 percent of a goal of 9 million set for 2007, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) on Wednesday.

The number of reemployed workers who had previously been made redundant was 1.2 million, 24 percent of the year's goal of 5 million, said Yin Chengji, MLSS spokesman.

Last year, a record of more than 11.8 million urban residents found new jobs, driven by a 10.7-percent rise in GDP. The registered urban unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent at the end of 2006, down just 0.1 percent from the end of 2005.

But at least 13 million new job opportunities need to be created annually in urban areas for laid-off workers, university graduates, demobilized servicemen and migrant workers, according to Tian Chengping, head of the MLSS.