Global audience most impressed by China's job creation target: poll

BEIJING - While the media are abuzz about China lowering its growth target in 2016, global readers have been drawn to the ambitious job creation goal the country has pledged.

In response to Xinhua's Twitter poll about China's new development targets, 59 percent said the job creation goal is what impressed them most.

China vows to create more than 10 million new jobs in 2016, despite tuning down its GDP growth target this year to between 6.5 and 7 percent, according to the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday at the opening of the annual parliamentary session.

The economic growth target, which is lower than last year's "around 7 percent," won 17 percent of votes in the survey, while 14 percent of respondents went for the defense budget, which is expected to rise by 7.6 percent in 2016, the lowest level in six years.

The budget deficit increase, which has received much media hype this year as the central government decides to expand it to 2.18 trillion yuan ($334 billion), only wowed 10 percent of respondents.

In another poll about China's 13th five-year plan, which maps out major development goals for the next five years, 40 percent of respondents said they are most impressed by the country's announcement it will add at least 50 million more jobs by 2020.

The country's ambitious carbon emission plan came in second out of China's goals for 2020, with 30 percent of respondents finding it most impressive.

According to the draft plan, China pledges to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 18 percent over the coming five years in efforts to protect the environment.

Environmental protection in China has always been closely watched worldwide. Earlier this week, when asked about what they want to hear from China's parliamentary session, 40 percent of respondents said they are most concerned about the country's pollution control. In second place, with a fourth of the poll's votes, was economic restructuring.