Evaluate government's performance with unemployment rate

Premier Wen Jiabao says the employment index will be used in evaluations of local officials, to urge the governments to solve the unemployment issue, says an article in 21st Century Business Herald. Excerpts:

Statistics show about 25 million people are looking for jobs in 2012, 1 million more than the annual average of the previous five years. More than 6.8 million are college graduates, six times more than earlier this century.

The employment issue is not only an economic issue, but also a social problem in China. The central authority has issued a series of policies to help small and medium-sized enterprises, which employ 75 percent of workers in urban areas. So local governments should enforce these polices to create a fair and better market environment for these enterprises.

The government should also transform itself from a director of the national economy and social affairs to a public-service provider and administrator of orders.

If this transformation can be made, China's private economy and social organizations will have more favorable conditions in which to thrive. The job market will become more open and diversified to translate China's labor resources into concrete benefits for both the economy and society.