Opinion

 

1. Enhancing job quality and creating more jobs for migrant workers

 

Migrant workers are one of the key groups for stable employment and are also the main force for urbanization. Currently, wage income is the primary source of income for farmers. Stabilizing employment of migrant workers and improving the quality of their employment is not only crucial for ensuring overall stable employment but also has significant implications for increasing farmers' income and achieving common prosperity.

 

2. Treasury bonds' increasing influence

 

The scale of treasury bonds is large, yet we need to be cautious about project selection and determination. It is necessary to strictly control and optimize investment methods, focusing on supporting high-quality projects that meet the conditions and implementing full-chain and full-life-cycle management. With further standardization and scientific management, treasury bonds are playing an increasingly important role in promoting the collection of fiscal funds, enriching personal investment channels, and participating in macroeconomic regulation.

 

Policy

 

1. On April 30, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice to promote employment through advanced manufacturing industry in an effort to stabilize and expand employment capacity, improve employment quality, and absorb more key groups into employment. The notice specified the continuation of the phased reduction of unemployment insurance and work-related injury insurance rates until the end of 2025.

 

2. The General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Data Administration recently issued Key Points for Digital Economy Development in 2024, which deployed key tasks for digital economy in 2024 from nine aspects. The main contents consisted of moderately advancing the layout of digital infrastructure and accelerating the establishment of data basic systems.

 

3. According to National Development and Reform Commission, several departments recently issued a notice on launching the campaign to improve the vocational skills of employees in private enterprises through shared public training bases. More than 1 million employees of private enterprises will be trained each year from 2024 to 2027 as required in the notice.

 

Data

 

1. As of May 2, a total of 234,671 overseas buyers from 215 countries and regions have participated in the 135th China Import and Export Fair, a 25 percent increase from the same period last year. 

 

2. Data shows that the product structure adjustment in China's steel industry has significantly picked up speed, with the proportion of steel used in the manufacturing industry increasing from 42 percent in 2020 to 48 percent in 2023. In the first quarter of this year, China's exports of high value-added products accounted for over 35 percent of the total.

 

3. China's first national terrestrial shale oil demonstration zone - the Jiqing Oilfield - churned out 215,000 tons of shale oil in the first quarter, with a current daily production of 2,800 tons, both hitting record highs, according to the PetroChina Xinjiang Oilfield.

 

4. There were 3,629 manufacturing companies listed on China's domestic stock markets by the end of March this year, according to the China Association for Public Companies. The vast majority of companies in China were companies focusing mainly on manufacturing, information transmission, software, information technology services, as well as wholesale and retail.

 

5. China Development Bank (CDB) said it had issued RMB 104 billion (about USD 14.63 billion) in loans during the first quarter of 2024, in an effort to bolster the advancement of transportation and logistics infrastructure projects. Funds were channeled to key projects nationwide, encompassing construction of high-speed rail network, hub airport reconstruction and expansion, and national logistics hub construction development.

 

6. According to data from the online sales platform of agricultural and sideline products in areas lifted out of poverty, the platform has implemented 15 "industrial assisted demonstration counties" projects nationwide, with sales exceeding RMB 3 billion and over 100,000 farmers benefiting from the projects.

 

7. The index tracking the country's bulk commodity prices stood at 115.4 last month, up 3 percent month on month, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

 

8. China's e-commerce logistics index, an indicator of logistics operations in the e-commerce sector, stood at 113.2 points in April, up 0.7 points from a month earlier, industry data showed. It has broken through 113 points for the first time since December 2019, and the e-commerce logistics index has been rising for two consecutive months.

 

9. According to China Development Bank, during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the bank has issued over RMB 80 billion of agricultural loans to key assisted counties and over RMB 400 billion of agricultural loans to counties lifted out of poverty.

 

10. From January to April, China's foreign trade in goods stood at RMB 13.81 trillion (about USD 1.95 trillion), up 5.7 percent year on year, setting a new high in the same period, according to General Administration of Customs (GAC).

 

(Source: Economic Daily)