Two Chinese Vice Premiers, Sun Chunlan and Hu Chunhua, chaired a National Conference on Employment in Beijing on May 13, to which Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent instructions. He reminded officials of the mounting employment pressure this year and said “Employment pressure is still relatively big.” “This year [it is] especially so, as the number of college graduates has reached a new high and there are even more factors affecting stable employment.” Separately, the State Council’s in-house think tank, the DRC, estimates that the new US tariffs imposed May 10, could result in losses of around 1.16 million jobs. That number could jump to 1.8 million if the US follows through on further tariffs. Unemployment could lead to massive dislocation of workers, which could cause stability issues. The DRC suggested “Labor-importing provinces should try to keep unemployed people in the local area to prevent large-scale returning to the countryside” and “Labor-exporting provinces must help migrant workers return to their hometowns and villages to start businesses and drive rural workers to achieve employment at home.”
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