ABSTRACT
China has the largest population and therefore the biggest employment pressure on any single country in the world. With the progress of economic transition and adjustment of employment structure since the 1990s, China has experienced a ‘flood of unemployment’ on a speed and scale never seen in history. The serious unemployment, especially in cities, has had a major adverse impact on economic and social development and political stability, posing the biggest challenge at the turn of the century. The report to the 2002 16th CPC National Congress for the first time made it clear that ‘employment is something fundamental in the people’s livelihood’ and the state implements long-term strategy and policy to promote employment (Jiang 2002). This marked the beginning of the shift of the Chinese government’s main objective from the pursuit of economic growth to the creation of more jobs to alleviate unemployment. The 16th CPC National Congress for the first time listed the increase of employment as one of the four major objectives of macroeconomic control and regulation. 1
