State Council option on current and future work to promote employment (Guofa [2018] No.39)

16 November 2018

On 16 November 2018, the State Council expressed comments on promoting employment and entrepreneurship. Specific recommendations include rebating unemployment insurance premiums to enterprises with no or few layoffs, increasing guaranteed loans to entrepreneurs, creating policy incentives to encourage entrepreneurship, and increasing support to entrepreneurship training.

Abstract

The State Council released a circular on several opinions on promoting employment on 16 November 2018, which includes below measures on promoting employment.

I. Support the Stable Development of Enterprises

• Enterprises with no or few layoffs can be refunded 50 percent of actual unemployment insurance premiums paid in the previous year.
• Governmental-secured financing institutions should provide more support to small and micro enterprises with a lower rate of security.

II. Advocate and Support Employment and Entrepreneurship

• Eligible self-employed entrepreneurs and small and micro enterprises can apply for guaranteed loans for entrepreneurship of up to RMB 150,000 and RMB 3 million respectively.
• Encourage all places to accelerate the construction of entrepreneurship carriers.
• Trainee subsidies will be extended from unemployed graduates to unemployed youth aged 16 to 24.

III. Actively Carry out Training Programs

• Weak companies are encouraged to conduct on-the-job training for employees,
• Colleges, vocational training institutions, and qualified enterprises are encouraged to carry out vocational and entrepreneurship training for the unemployed, and provide living expense subsidies for people with difficulties in finding jobs and members of zero-employment families during training.
• Those with vocational qualification certificates can apply for skills promotion subsidies, and the condition will be relaxed from three years payment of unemployment insurance to one year.

IV. Assistance to Laid-off Workers and the Unemployed

• The unemployed can register at the public employment service agencies of their permanent residences, and enjoy local employment and entrepreneurial services, employment support policies, and tax incentives.
• Eligible unemployed persons also can receive unemployment insurance benefits, and laid-off workers with financial difficulties will be offered interim living subsidies.