Employment-first policy remains a priority, premier says

China will continue implementing its employment-first policy to stabilize the job market, and the growing "talent dividend" brought by increasing schooling years for laborers will boost the nation's economic development, according to the premier.

Premier Li Qiang said at a news conference on Monday in Beijing that employment is the foundation of people's livelihood, and the fundamental way to tackle employment issues is to develop the economy.

He said that China will continue to comprehensively implement its employment-first policy and offer more supportive policies on job-seeking services and skills training. The nation will also regulate the development of new forms of work — for example, flexible employment — in the process of expanding and stabilizing the job market.

Li said that while the increasing population of college graduates — which is expected to reach a record high of 11.58 million this year — will put pressure on the job market, it will also invigorate society.

"So we will make efforts to support and help young people realize their personal value through hard work," he said.

Regarding the negative growth seen in the nation's population last year, Li said that it's improper to conclude that the demographic dividend the nation used to enjoy will disappear, adding that it's necessary to consider the quality of population and the distribution of its talent.

"So far, we have nearly 900 million people of working age, and we see 15 million new laborers entering the job market every year, so we still have rich human resources," he said.

Furthermore, over 240 million of the nation's people have received a higher education, and the average number of schooling years for laborers has reached about 14 years, according to Li.

"Thus, we haven't lost our demographic dividend as we embrace a growing 'talent dividend', which help drive China's development."

He added that the nation will conduct further research on social problems caused by population growth and develop solutions for these problems.