Beijing Youth Daily:

My question is about people's well-being. Employment is pivotal to people's well-being. In recent years, the employment of young people, especially college graduates, has generated widespread concern. The latest Report on the Work of the Government proposed adding no fewer than 12 million urban jobs this year. What were the considerations in setting this goal when faced with relatively high pressure in this regard? And can this goal be achieved? Thank you.

Huang Shouhong:

Thank you for your questions. Employment is pivotal to people's well-being. It concerns the most fundamental interests of both the country and individuals. Employment of the younger generation is the most important concern of every family.

In recent years, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have put great emphasis on employment, and taken a slew of measures. This year's government work report highlights an employment-first approach and makes a series of measures. First, this year's report projects the number of added urban jobs to exceed 12 million, compared to "about 12 million" in last year's report. This demonstrates that the Party and the central government's strong efforts, determination and clear policy orientation in stabilizing employment. 

The report proposes an array of policies and measures in three aspects to achieve employment objectives, especially those about guaranteeing employment for young people and college graduates: First, policy support will be bolstered, including macro policy support. The report requires further support of fiscal and financial policies for employment, rolling out more policies conducive to stabilizing expectations, maintaining growth and guaranteeing employment. Meanwhile, specialized policies promoting employment are enhanced, such as policies on unemployment insurance premiums refunds, special loans for stabilizing and increasing employment, and employment and social insurance subsidies. 

Second, support for enterprises in key industries and key groups will be strengthened. The report requires to provide more support to sectors and enterprises with a large capacity for creating jobs, and more assistance for key groups like college graduates. The report also arranges work to ensure fair employment and guarantee the rights and interests , which are of great social concern.  

Third, vocational skills training will be enhanced. In China, the pressure on aggregate job creation coexists with the related structural issues. In many industries, fields and regions, some people don't have jobs, while some jobs are in urgent need of employees. Shortages of talented workers occur in many industries and sectors. For example, the manufacturing sector faces a shortage of 30 million employees. The potential need for elderly care workers amounts to more than 10 million, but the number of such workers is only over 300,000. Families with elders, especially those having elders with disabilities, may find it difficult to find skilled and practiced elderly care workers. Now, China has more than 5 million nurses, with an annual increase of 300,000 people. But the average number of nurses for each 1,000 people is only 3.7, lower than the average number of developed countries, which is from eight to 15 nurses. The shortages indicate our employment potential and the key lies in taking measures to align labor supply with demands and coordinate labor force's employment skills, professions and abilities with demands. The report points out that we will enhance vocational skills training to meet job demands in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, modern services, and elderly care. These policies shall ease current employment pressure and improve labor force's caliber in a bid to meet needs for high-skilled workers during economic development. 

In general, we face great pressure in stabilizing employment while seeing to the huge potential that lies in employment, and we strive to fully unleash this potential. The employment condition this year certainly will be promising. Thank you.