Stabilizing employment clearly top priority for policymakers

The Chinese government has set itself the target of creating more than 9 million jobs this year, and it will try to keep the unemployment rate at no more than "around 6 percent", according to Premier Li Keqiang in a news conference at the end of the annual two sessions in Beijing on Thursday.

These are practical targets, given the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, 13.52 million jobs were created and the unemployment rate was about 5 to 5.3 percent.

It will take time for the economy to recover from its negative growth in the first quarter. That's why the government has remarkably lowered the number of jobs it aims to create in the country this year, and adjusted the expected unemployment rate as well.