Employment is the foundation of people's livelihoods, a source of wealth, and an important pillar of social stability, Premier Li Keqiang said in an instruction to a national teleconference on employment and entrepreneurship held on June 3 in Beijing.
The meeting also steered the work on employment and startups of university graduates.
Premier Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that it will be an arduous task this year to secure and increase jobs.
He called on all regions and departments to stick to economic development for employment, make employment a priority in policies, and pay particular attention to the employment of university graduates, veterans and migrant workers.
While implementing policies on tax and fee reductions, inclusive finance, and employment, Premier Li said, the government will offer more support to small as well as medium- and micro-sized enterprises, and individual business owners in addressing difficulties and development, thus creating more job and entrepreneurship opportunities.
The government will also deepen administrative reform, promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation, support and regulate new job forms, and drive employment through startups, he added.
Meanwhile, work should be done to improve occupational training and employment services, support development of talent and part-time job markets, and guarantee the basic rights of flexible workers, Premier Li said.
To complete the employment task for this year, the government will support stable employment for people out of poverty, help those with difficulties in seeking jobs, and secure the livelihoods of laid-off people.
The meeting stressed economic development for employment, and market entities will be supported to keep their growth and employment stable, and create new jobs.
Also, entrepreneurship and innovation will be boosted for stable and larger employment capacity.
Efforts should be made to give full play to all kinds of employment services, enhance the basis of public service agencies, support institutions in the market to use their expertise, guide social organizations to participate in employment services, and improve the human resources market system.
Vocational training will be strengthened to accomplish campaigns and tasks in this regard, and training units will be motivated while building a long-term mechanism on vocational training, to ease any structural problems in employment.
Those at the meeting also stressed work on employment for university graduates, with solid services before and after their graduation and good communication with potential employers.
According to the meeting, employment and entrepreneurship of university graduates should be prioritized, and career advice services should be well-targeted.
The graduates should be guided to foster a healthy view of employment and encouraged to work or start businesses at the grassroots level.
Efforts are also urged to help solve problems the graduates may face in seeking jobs, and ensure that job opportunities won't decrease before they leave campus, and that employment-related services will be provided after graduation.
The meeting also stressed that the timetable for recruiting teachers, medical workers and others should be optimized, and employment programs at the grassroots level that encourage graduates to work in rural areas, especially in central and western China, should be well-implemented.
Related authorities should make full use of policies to reduce enterprises' burdens, stabilize and expand employment, and encourage enterprises to provide more job opportunities.
In addition, the meeting called on supporting graduates to start businesses through policies such as tax and fee reduction and exemption, and entrepreneurial loans.
These moves will promote the full and high-quality employment of graduates, with outstanding achievements in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
Vice-premiers Sun Chunlan and Hu Chunhua, members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, also spoke at the meeting.
