China expects to see an increase in its migrant population, but at a slower rate. (Photo : Reuters)
The State Council has issued on April 21, Tuesday, a series of measures aimed at stimulating employment in the country, including expanding tax reductions and exemption policies to cover sole-proprietorship enterprises, the China Daily reported.
The report said that the decision was made during the weekly executive meeting of the council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.
In a statement released after the meeting, the council said that they decided to launch more active policies on employment and encourage mass entrepreneurship and innovation due to the growing problems on employment.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that 3.2 million new jobs were created in urban areas in the first three months of the year, a year-on-year fall of 240,000.
Mo Rong, director of the Institute of International Labor and Social Security under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said that the drop in employment number is partly due to the economic slowdown.
The council also decided during the meeting to give companies tax advantages if they hire people who have been jobless for more than six months. The policy previously covered only those who had been unemployed for more than a year.
The report said that the council would also expand tax reduction and exemption policies to benefit small businesses put up by graduates or jobless people to cover sole-proprietorship enterprises.
The council also asked the government to provide support through the unemployment insurance fund to all companies that have paid unemployment insurance and that do not fire employees or reduce staff numbers.
The council also moved to ease the restrictions on the location of newly established companies and encouraged workers from rural areas to return home and start their own businesses, including online ones.
The government promised to help families in financial difficulties, especially those with unemployed family members or living on subsistence allowances.
The council also approved measures that will help manage the franchising of infrastructure and public utilities, to enable them to expand investment fields for private capital and to raise public products and services.
The other approved measures include allowing domestic and foreign companies and other organizations to construct, invest and operate infrastructure facilities and public utilities.
