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Now for more on the presser by The Ministry¹ of Human Resources and Social Security, we are joined in the studio by my colleague Wu Haojun.

Q1: The big picture for employment certainly looks good here especially considering the economic climate, now, getting down to the details, what are some other highlights you gathered from the presser?

A: Well, first of all, this may be a bit early to say but we can probably expect the overcrowding in China’s biggest metropolises² to ease if just a little bit down the road. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the number of migrant workers who stayed in their home provinces for work increased by 3.9% for last year. So that’s less people heading to the more affluent³ east and southern parts of China. And the trend seems to be continuing this year. But for college graduate employment it’s a different story. It’s going to be another very difficult year for them--7.27 million university students are applying for their first jobs out of college. According to the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Shanghai will have a total of 178,000 graduates this year. These fresh graduates will fight for 90,000 registered job openings. That’s almost a two to one ratio--talk about tough competition. But authorities have been trying to help. For example, local government departments are required to simplify approval procedures and lower the threshold for college graduates starting their own businesses.

Q2: The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security is also responsible for overseeing the management of China’s vast social insurance funds… now with an aging population and shrinking workforce⁴, there are naturally worries about if there’s going to be enough money to spread around. How is the ministry going to address that?

A: Well, if there’s ever any worry on that front, these numbers from the Ministry should provide some relief. Gross revenue of social insurance funds increased 18.8 percent year-on-year to 912 billion yuan, while gross expenditure⁵ totaled 730 billion yuan, up 18.5 percent from a year ago. So things are still very much in the clear as far as we can tell. And for those who don’t know already. China’s social insurance funds consists of five parts - basic pension funds, basic medical insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance and maternity⁶ insurance. As part of an effort to address the problem you mentioned, the country just unveiled an ambitious plan to create a unified⁷ pension system for its rural and urban population before 2020 . It’s hoped the overhaul⁸ will encourage labor⁹ mobility¹⁰.