China has “Economic and Jobs” Problems too

Premier Wen

It seems America and Europe are not alone when it comes to economic problems and the need to find jobs for the unemployed. China’s Premier gave a speech in which he said that nation’s top priority is controlling hosing prices, stopping inflation and finding jobs for millions of workers plus millions more new college graduates.

China will make job creation a more urgent priority due to slowed economic growth and weakened exports, Premier Wen Jibao said in comments published on Sunday, also warning that efforts to ‘tame housing prices’ were at a critical point.

Wen talked about the issues that have raised worries about the direction of the world's second biggest economy: inflation, housing costs, weakened demand from rich economies, and the pressure to secure jobs for millions of university students and rural migrants. "Currently, economic growth is slowing and external demand is falling, and we should make employment even more of a priority in economic and social development, doing our utmost to expand employment," Wen told officials.

Those efforts would include "ensuring an appropriate rate of economic growth" and supporting labor-intensive industries, small businesses and private firms, he said.

The Chinese premier made clear that jobs and social stability are dominant concerns.
People's livelihoods should assume a more important role in setting macroeconomic policy because such needs affect "social harmony and stability," said Wen.

Wen's government faces a tricky test in striking the right balance between maintaining growth and containing inflation. China's economic expansion slowed to 9.1 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter, its weakest pace in more than two years as euro-debt strains and a sluggish U.S. economy took a toll.

His government must also deal with relentless pressure to find jobs. China has 242 million rural residents who work off the farm, and 153 million of them are migrants working outside their home towns. They are joined by millions more migrants every year, hunting for work in factories and on building sites. As well, more than six million college and university graduates entered the workforce this year.

Wen also said another plank of the government's efforts to contain price rises -- containing housing costs -- was at a crucial stage. Housing prices in China have climbed to record highs, although annual property inflation eased to a low of 3.5 percent in September as Beijing's campaign to cool the market made inroads.

"All levels of government must take effective measures to consolidate the fruits of (housing price) controls," he said. Those efforts should include ensuring the government's goals to expand affordable, state-backed housing are met, Wen said.

As of August, China had built 8.68 million units of homes for rental or sale to poorer families this year, putting it on track to fulfill its full-year goal of 10 million homes.
But China is experiencing a serious shortfall in financing for the affordable homes.

The Chinese government is fond of lecturing U.S. officials on our economic problems but they have some serious ones of their own –a fact I wish we would point out to them next time Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton stops in Beijing.

Live Long and Prosper....