On March 11, after the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress closed, Premier Li Keqiang attended the press conference in the Golden Hall on the third floor of the Great Hall of the People and answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists.

　　Li Keqiang: I am very happy to meet with friends from the media and thank you for your hard work in reporting on China's two sessions.

This year we will continue to communicate through video, please ask questions.

　　CNBC reporter: Premier Li, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has affected the ways and places of many tasks. It has been a year since the epidemic broke out. What are the obvious changes in the quality of employment and income in China? What specific measures will China take to improve this? situation?

Especially in the context of an aging population, what impact does it have on consumer demand, especially the consumption of foreign brands?

　　Li Keqiang: Employment can be said to be a big deal for a country and a family.

When the epidemic was raging last year, pedestrians were no longer seen on many streets and most shops were closed. What we were most worried about at the time was massive unemployment.

I remember that I visited a lot of shops later, and I saw a lot of shops. In a small shop, the owner told me: It hasn’t been open for 3 months because the government has reduced taxes and fees, supported rent reduction, water and electricity bills, and subsidies for job stabilization. We No layoffs, survived.

I asked what to do with employees’ wages?

He said that only living expenses were paid at that time.

More than 20 employees present all said: The store takes care of food and housing, and we are not allowed to be laid off. What else can we say.

Both companies and employees understand that as long as the company is kept and the position is stabilized, business will flourish as soon as work and the market resume.

　　Li Keqiang: When we formulated the macro policy last year, because of too many uncertain factors, we did not set the expected target for economic growth.

However, after repeated weighing, an employment target was set, which means that more than 9 million new jobs will be created in urban areas.

Because employment is the foundation of people's livelihood, the foundation of development, and the source of wealth creation.

At that time, we also proposed that we should strive to achieve positive economic growth throughout the year. In fact, we believe that as long as we can achieve more than 9 million new jobs in cities and towns, there will be positive economic growth. Because there is employment, there will be income, which can drive consumption, Stimulate the economy.

　　Li Keqiang: Last year, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, and through the joint efforts of the whole country, our market players showed strong resilience. The people overcame the difficulties together, and finally achieved 11.86 million new jobs in cities and towns. , It also achieved an annual economic growth of 2.3%, and the corresponding increase in residents’ income was better than expected.

　　Li Keqiang: This year, our employment pressure is still very high. There are about 14 million new urban laborers, including 9.09 million college graduates, which is a record high. It is also necessary to ensure the employment of veterans and 278 million migrant workers. Provide part-time job opportunities.

Therefore, when we formulate macro policies this year, we still adhere to the policy of giving priority to employment. We will continue to promote the "six stability" and achieve the "six guarantees", and we still put employment first.

The employment-related policies and measures introduced last year not only failed to be adjusted, but also increased. All other policies must be beneficial to employment.

We believe that through the steady recovery of economic growth, more jobs will be created, and more jobs will promote the stability and improvement of the economy.

　　Li Keqiang: This year we have determined that the goal of new urban employment is more than 11 million people. We hope that it can be even higher in actual implementation.

We are also very clear that we still need to let the market play the leading role in employment, that is, we will continue to ensure employment by protecting market players.

On the one hand, it promotes job stabilization and increase, and on the other hand, it expands employment channels.

There were also new changes in employment methods during the epidemic last year. Like our new development momentum in the past few years, including online shopping, express delivery and other rapid growth against the trend, it has also driven the development of employment and traditional industries.

On the one hand, we must continue to encourage the increase of relatively stable jobs, and on the other hand, we must open up more flexible employment channels.

Flexible employment in China is now on the rise, involving more than 200 million people.

Some people work a few jobs, and it is very hard. Therefore, we should give them social security subsidies, especially to use mechanism methods to solve possible occupational injury problems and provide them with basic rights and interests protection.

This is also conducive to a more healthy and stable development of the flexible job market.

　　Li Keqiang: As for the issue of the elderly mentioned by a reporter friend just now.

China's aging population already has 260 million. The aging industry can also be said to be a huge sunrise industry, which brings diversified needs.

Because of the multi-level and diversified needs of the Chinese market, such a vast market will inevitably create more opportunities for foreign companies' products, services, and even investment, because our market is open.

　　Li Keqiang: China has a population of 1.4 billion, and labor resources are arguably the most abundant resources. The Chinese people can bear hardships and stand hard work. As long as there are opportunities for employment, they will earn more.

I believe that the Chinese people will use their hard-working hands to gradually move towards common prosperity.

　　(Organized according to the web text live broadcast)