Meeting People’s Needs

　　The first half of 2020 has seen COVID-19 sweep across almost every corner of the world, disrupting life and business.

　　As the UN Secretary General António Guterres has said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world of work upside down.” Currently in China, the epidemic has been under effective control, though there are still sporadic cases recorded in different parts of the country.

　　In the fight against the virus, China has put people first. Nationwide resources have been mobilized to contain the epidemic, minimizing the impact of the disease. It is a hard-earned achievement for a country with a population of 1.4 billion to control the disease in such a short period of time. Apart from the health impact of COVID-19, China’s economy has suffered, with its GDP shrinking by 6.8 percent in the first quarter.

　　Once the spread of the coronavirus had been put under effective control, priorities shifted to improving people’s livelihood, which has been seriously disrupted by COVID-19.

　　The most important move is to provide employment. In the Report on the Work of the Government delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in May, the Chinese Government did not set goals for economic growth this year, as it usually did in the past, but emphasized providing more than 9 million urban jobs. Statistics show that medium, small and micro-sized enterprises offer 80 percent of urban employment, and most of these enterprises, mainly in accommodation, catering, transportation, tourism and entertainment sectors, have been seriously affected by the epidemic. Helping these enterprises get back on their feet is the most effective way to increase employment.

　　A series of measures have been taken by the government to keep businesses and employment stable, such as further cutting taxes and fees, reducing production and operation costs and increasing financial support. Compounding the situation, in July, more than 8.74 million college graduates will enter the job market. More efforts also need to be made by local governments and universities to help these students find jobs.

　　Fighting poverty is another important part of improving people’s livelihood. Eliminating absolute poverty in China by 2020 is an established goal. Despite China’s economy being impacted by COVID-19 this year, this goal has not changed and is set to be realized in the second half of this year.

　　While inspecting northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, one of the key areas in the campaign of fighting poverty, on June 8-10, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized that the target of eradicating poverty would be met as planned. The number of people living below the poverty line has already been reduced from 98.99 million in 2012 to 5.51 million at the end of 2019.

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