Govt decisions undoubtedly right way to move forward

I had mixed feelings of nervousness and privilege when I learned that I was to represent China Daily at Premier Li Keqiang's annual meeting with the media, which took place at the end of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress on Thursday.

As a reporter covering political affairs, I had a number of questions to ask the premier. At the top of my list was the job market, the greatest of my concerns.

As the premier said in his response to my question, which I was lucky and honored for having the chance to ask him, employment is the biggest issue concerning people's livelihoods, and for families, it is of paramount importance.

That is especially true this year as the COVID-19 pandemic has dampened economic activities, dented consumer spending and resulted in job losses.

The challenge of employment creation is coupled with the fact that China has 8.74 million college students graduating this year and over 290 million rural migrant workers.

To stabilize the job market, the premier offered his assurance at the news conference that the government will resort to all policy tools at its disposal and devote the largest amount of fiscal input.

As the premier put it, China has a working-age population of 900 million, and without jobs there would be 900 million mouths to feed. However, with jobs there are 900 million pairs of hands that can create enormous wealth.

Li reiterated pledges made in the Government Work Report that the government will offer 35 million vocational skills training opportunities and increase enrollment in vocational colleges by 2 million places this year and next to help job creation, in addition to tax cuts, fee reductions and rent waivers for smaller businesses.

"After the pandemic, ensuring that people's basic needs are met is the top priority," he said.

He went on to offer assurances that the government will ensure that pension funds can be issued in full and on time, a key measure to see to it that people can have enough confidence in the future.

"We need to extend hope to all sectors of society. And with the across-the-board enforcement of various social security policies, we will offer strong assurances to the people and thus drive economic growth," he said.

Indeed, with consumption now the top driver of China's economic growth and the COVID-19 pandemic harming global trade, the government's decisions to shore up confidence, bolster sources of income for residents and unleash the potential of consumer spending are undoubtedly the right way to go.