College students attend an intern opportunity fair held in June at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. (Photo/China News Service)
One of the brightest points of China's recently released economic data for the first three quarters is that its employment situation is better than expected.
Such a heartening performance is inseparable from the importance the central government has attached to the employment issue, as indicated in Premier Li Keqiang's government work reports of the past three years and numerous meetings of the State Council, China's Cabinet.
That China has managed to create so many new jobs, despite the profound global economic adjustments and numerous difficult and uncertain factors facing the economy, testifies that there is enough elasticity in its economy despite its slower GDP growth. The better-than-expected employment situation is also proof that China's economic development is on a right road and on a sound footing.
In the past, every 1 percent of GDP growth could help create 1 million new jobs in China. However, with the optimization of the country's economic structure and the rise of the tertiary sector's share, that same GDP growth now means employment for 1.9 million people. This demonstrates that there is no contradiction between China's efforts to increase its employment rate and its efforts to promote a services-oriented structural adjustment.
That it is a dividend of the reforms promoted by the government in various fields also explains why the country has witnessed expanded employment at a time when its economy has slowed.
The series of sweeping reforms the top leaders have promoted, from the simplification of administrative procedures and delegating of central government powers to lower-level governments, to practical measures to encourage mass entrepreneurship and innovation, have injected a new vitality into business startups and job creation.
The expanded employment in the first three quarters proves that China's economic development is more effectively guaranteeing people's access to the fruits of its fast-growing economy.
IFeng.com
