Detailed explanation of the four livelihood hotspots of the Prime Minister's press conference: the word employment appears 29 times
Premier Li Keqiang attended a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists
On the afternoon of March 11, after the closing of the Fourth Session of the 13th National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang attended the press conference and answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists. As the "final drama" of the two sessions each year, Premier Li Keqiang answered 11 questions, including responses to the four major livelihood hotspots of employment, medical health, education, and old-age care. Different from previous years, this year's Prime Minister's answer to employment topics has increased significantly, and it has become the first question in the press conference, which to a certain extent shows the importance of employment this year. In addition, the issue of aging has always been the focus of press conferences in recent years, and Premier Li Keqiang has faced the issue head-on and gave policy "red envelopes." What do these changes reflect?
Employment is the foundation of people's livelihood and the foundation of development
"Employment can be said to be a big deal for a country and a family."
In the context of the Covid-19 epidemic, employment has become a hot spot for the people and the media. At this year’s press conference, Premier Li Keqiang’s first sentence expressed the country’s attitude towards employment.
As a matter of fact, the issue of employment, as a mandatory question in the Prime Minister's press conference, also runs through every Prime Minister's press conference. The reporter studied and found that the term "employment" appeared 22 times, 25 times, and 29 times at the Prime Minister's press conferences in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively, showing the importance of this term.
At this press conference, Li Keqiang said, “This year we are still under great employment pressure. There are about 14 million new laborers in urban areas, including 9.09 million college graduates, which is a record high. It is also necessary to ensure the employment of veterans. It is necessary to provide 278 million migrant workers with the opportunity to work.” In this context, compared with the employment growth target of 9 million new urban jobs last year, the target of 11 million new jobs this year can be said to be a heavier task.
Zhang Junwei, a researcher at the Macroeconomic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, believes that securing employment has always been our priority and is also our central task for a long time to come. This time, the Prime Minister talked about the employment issue a lot, which explained the urgency of the current employment work. Although my country's industrial economy has shown a steady recovery and the employment situation is improving in general, the employment of key groups still needs attention, and the achievement of employment goals must be done in many ways. To implement policies, governments at all levels must fulfill their responsibilities. In addition, the phrase "let the market play the leading role" is very important. Only by keeping the main players in the market can the employment goals be truly achieved, and only when the market is vigorous can full employment be achieved.
It is necessary to make medical treatment more convenient and less burdensome for the masses
At this year's press conference, a reporter specifically raised the issue of inter-provincial reimbursement for outpatient expenses. In this regard, Li Keqiang pointed out that by the end of next year, each county must determine a designated medical institution that can directly reimburse medical expenses, including outpatient fees, so these elderly people can no longer worry about this.
In recent years, the settlement of hospitalization expenses for medical treatment in different places has been implemented in many provinces in my country, which has greatly solved the problem of the people’s difficulty in reimbursement for medical treatment. "The more government personnel bother, you can make the elderly and the family more comfortable." Premier Li Keqiang said with a heart-to-heart word, demonstrating his firm determination to solve minor issues in people's livelihood.
Health is the foundation of happiness and productivity. In responding to people’s livelihood issues, Premier Li Keqiang pointed out that it is necessary to take multiple measures to increase investment in county and township hospitals and health centers. It is necessary to expand the scope of outpatient medical insurance reimbursement and reimbursement of drugs for common diseases, and reduce the prices of drugs and high-value medical consumables. Take some measures that the masses can really feel. It is necessary to make medical treatment more convenient and less burdensome for the masses.
Liu Yuanli, Counselor of the State Council and Executive Dean of the School of Health Management Policy of Peking Union Medical College, said that health is the basic prerequisite for the all-round development of people. The answers to this year’s Premier’s press conference focused more on practical issues that are closely related to improving the accessibility and effectiveness of health services for the people, which not only fully demonstrated the government’s responsibility to govern for the people, but also help fill up shortcomings and weaknesses in the development of health care.
Of opportunity fairness, education fairness is the greatest fairness
Regarding education issues, Li Keqiang said at the press conference, “We must not let children lose on the starting line because of their family backgrounds and regions. Among fair opportunities, education fairness is the greatest fairness."
"Educational equity" has been mentioned many times in the two sessions this year, and it is also the education issue that the Premier mentioned in response to the topic of people's livelihood. This fully highlights the importance of developing more equitable education.
In particular, the government work report pointed out that “make greater strides in education equity to better solve the problem of schooling for the children of migrant workers. College enrollment will continue to increase its preference for the central and western regions and rural areas, and strive to make the majority of students healthy and happy. Grow up, so that every child has the opportunity to shine in life."
Driven by a series of policies in recent years, the popularization of basic education in our country has jumped to a new level. Statistics released by the Ministry of Education show that my country’s nine-year compulsory education consolidation rate has reached 95.2% in 2020, which has historically solved the problem of "schooling", but there is still a long way to go to make every child "good school".
When answering questions from reporters, Premier Li Keqiang also pointed out two important points: the problem of insufficient resources of grassroots teachers and the problem of children of urban migrant workers going to school. And promised to "increase investment in teacher training in counties and townships, so that they can easily improve their academic qualifications on the job, and to adopt preferential policies for professional title evaluation." "For children of migrant workers in cities, as long as they get a residence permit, they must be allowed There are opportunities for education."
Jiao Hongchang, Dean of the School of Law of the People's University of Political Science and Law of China, believes that to achieve the greatest fairness in education, the prime minister's direct confrontation of this issue shows that our government is a promising government and a government that dares to assume responsibility. To achieve education equity, the government needs to continue to increase its investment in education, especially to increase its investment in grassroots education in remote areas. The tilt and sink of resources are of vital importance.
Lighten up a little burden, but also a little more warm
Providing for the elderly and nurturing the young is a major livelihood problem facing many families. Regarding the issue of “one elder and one younger”, Premier Li Keqiang said at the press conference that in terms of old-age care and childcare, the government should also guide social forces to set up community service industries, and provide preferential support in taxation and other aspects as much as possible to provide families in the care of the elderly. Childcare not only reduces the burden a little, but also warms it a little.
As my country enters an aging society, the topic of old-age care and childcare continues to heat up. At this year's prime minister's press conference, two issues were mentioned, namely, pensions in remote places and community pensions.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in the past 30 years, the dependency ratio of the elderly population in China has increased to 17.8%, which means that one elderly person needs about 6 working-age people to bear the burden. However, it is difficult and expensive for young children to enter nursery schools, which is a big problem for the working-class parents of "post-80s and post-90s".
This year’s government work report stated that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, a national strategy to actively respond to population aging will be implemented, with a focus on “one old and one small” to improve the population service system, promote the realization of a moderate fertility level, and gradually delay the legal retirement age. Improve the multi-level social security system, increase the basic pension insurance participation rate to 95%, and optimize the social assistance and charity system.
Tang Renwu, dean of the Institute of Government Management at Beijing Normal University, believes that China will enter an aging society in the future. "One old and one small" relates to whether China can overcome the middle-income trap and whether it can enter the ranks of developed countries. The society is highly concerned about the issue of elderly care and childcare. The prime minister's response to this livelihood hotspot is to expand and strengthen the elderly care and childcare industry, and reduce the burden on society through better services and more subsidies.
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