Xi calls for promoting quality and quantity of new jobs

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has called for sustained efforts to promote high-quality and sufficient employment to keep enhancing the sense of gain, happiness and security among the vast majority of workers.

While presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Monday, Xi said that China”s high-quality development should be a process of improving and expanding employment opportunities.

The policymakers at the meeting listened to a report made by Mo Rong, head of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security, before sharing their views in the discussions.

The central government has outlined a target of creating over 12 million new jobs in urban areas this year, while pledging to maintain the surveyed urban unemployment rate at around 5.5 percent. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the urban surveyed unemployment rate nationwide was 5.2 percent during the January-April period, down 0.2 percentage point compared with the same period last year.

Xi highlighted at the session the key experiences the Party’s central leadership has drawn from job creation efforts, including seeing employment as the cornerstone for public well-being, adhering to an employment-first policy, prioritizing job creation for key groups and creating more jobs through encouraging entrepreneurship.

He reiterated the necessity to tailor the development of new quality productive forces to local conditions, transform and upgrade traditional industries, nurture and expand emerging sectors, and make plans for the overall development of emerging sectors.

The authorities must continue to support the growth of businesses and sectors with large potential for job creation in order to stabilize and expand the job market, he said.

In alignment with new trends and fresh expectations from the general public for a high-quality life, the development of new business models must be vigorously advanced, and new growth drivers in the job market must be cultivated, Xi stressed.

He underlined the need to accelerate efforts to develop modern human resources characterized by high quality, sufficient quantity, optimized structure and rational distribution, in order to address the structural imbalance between supply and demand in the job market.

The general secretary called for dynamic adjustments in the structure of higher education majors and resources, the vigorous development of vocational education, and improvements to the lifelong vocational skills training system.

It is important to analyze the reason for labor shortages in some sectors to solve the problem of unemployment through addressing the issue of recruitment difficulties facing businesses, he said.

With over 11.7 million students due to graduate from college this year, Xi called for continuous efforts to prioritize the employment of young people, such as college graduates, and develop more job opportunities conducive to their expertise.

Young people should be encouraged to find jobs and start businesses in key sectors, at the grassroots level and in small, medium-sized and micro businesses, he said.

As China moves forward with its new urbanization and rural vitalization drive, the nation must take multipronged measures to help migrant workers find jobs, while encouraging talent to return to rural areas and urban residents to start rural businesses.

The general secretary cautioned against a return to poverty on a large scale due to unemployment, saying that the overall number and income of migrant workers who have been lifted out of poverty must be stabilized.

Greater assistance must be extended to older workers, disabled individuals and the long-term jobless, and the authorities must take coordinated measures to ensure that all families can have sources of income to pay their bills.

The authorities must strive to establish a comprehensive and standardized human resources market system, creating a fair employment environment and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to achieve personal development through hard work, Xi said.

To strengthen the protection of workers’ rights and interests, it is necessary to improve labor laws and regulations, establish labor standards for new forms of employment and enhance the social security system, he added.

The authorities should effectively address issues such as employment discrimination, wage arrears, lack of employment insurance and illegal layoffs, he said.