就业优先政策 (jiùyè yōuxiān zhèngcè): Employment-first policy

Because employment relates to people's livelihood most and is of great significance to social stability, expanding employment is a long-term government strategy.

In this year's Government Work Report, Premier Li Keqiang said that employment is the cornerstone of well-being and the wellspring of wealth. And first and foremost, maintaining stable growth ensures employment.

He said that an employment-first policy will be pursued with full force.

This year, for the first time, the employment-first policy has been elevated to the status of a macro policy, which aims to strengthen society-wide attention to employment and increase support for it.

In 2018, China had a newly employed population of 13.61 million and the surveyed urban unemployment rate maintained about 5 percent, which was lower than the 5.5 percent target.

But as a country with a huge population, for a long time to come China's employment pressure will remain high.

Li said that this year, on top of the urban job creation target, the government will work to reach the actual employment figures of the past few years, so as to ensure employment for the urban workforce while creating nonagricultural employment opportunities for the surplus rural workforce. It is expected that stabilizing employment will be the top priority of local governments in the next stage.