At the closing of the double session of parliament on 28 May, and after delegates of the National People's Congress, the Chinese Parliament, almost unanimously approved the government's progress report, premier Li Keqiang said that measures to safeguard employment, ensure decent living conditions and restart businesses should help to restore growth and stabilise fundamentals in 2020-21. He stressed that “employment is the most important thing in people's lives” and that 70% of state subsidies would be used to preserve household incomes to boost consumption, stimulate the market and support the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises, which provide 90% of jobs in China.
The focus on employment comes as no surprise, since unemployment figures reported by the National Bureau of Statistics have worsened since February (see article nº11933) and more independent calculations estimate that the official unemployment level of 6% should be at least doubled. When presenting his progress report on 22 May, the premier had placed employment at the forefront of what the government calls the “six stabilisations” and the “six guarantees”.
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