BEIJING: China will adopt new pro-employment measures and enhance its support for key groups of job seekers to meet this year’s job creation targets, the State Council’s executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided. It was agreed at the meeting that since the start of this year, local governments and departments have implemented strong measures to support employment. The surveyed urban unemployment rate has since dropped steadily from its February peak. “The employment situation remains stable overall. Yet we shall not let down our guard against potential risks. From January to August, 7.81 million urban jobs have been created. We are well-positioned to achieve the target of creating 9 million new urban jobs for the entire year,” Li said at the meeting. “At the same time we must recognize the challenges in employment prospects, the unemployment rate in certain groups of the population and in some regions remains high. Those employed have seen their incomes shrink,” Li added. It was urged at the Friday meeting that greater efforts are needed to support market entities and create jobs. Measures to relieve business burdens, secure jobs and expand employment need to be fine-tuned to better benefit small and micro-sized businesses and industries that are particularly hard-hit and recovering at a slower pace.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
