MOHRSS Press Conference Reviews 2020 Human Resources and Social Security Work

On January 26, 2021 (Tuesday) at 10:00 a.m., the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) held its Q4 2020 online press conference to review the progress of human resources and social security work in 2020.

MOHRSS Q4 2020 press conference

Employment: stable, improving and better than expected.

The employment situation improved quarter by quarter in 2020 and remained generally stable. A total of 11.86 million new urban jobs were created during the year, exceeding the target of 9 million. The surveyed urban unemployment rate fell from a peak of 6.2% in February to 5.2% in December, in line with the same period of 2019, and the registered urban unemployment rate at year-end was 4.24%. The government introduced 28 breakthrough policies combining cost reduction, job stabilization and job creation. Social insurance "exemption, reduction, postponement and rate-cut" policies reduced the burden on enterprises by RMB 1.54 trillion. Unemployment insurance premium refunds totaling RMB 104.2 billion were granted to 6.08 million enterprises, and more than RMB 100 billion was spent on employment subsidies and special awards.

Social security: deepening reform with stable fund operation.

By the end of 2020, 999 million people were covered by basic pension insurance, 217 million by unemployment insurance and 268 million by work-related injury insurance, up by 31.28 million, 11.47 million and 12.91 million respectively from end-2019. The three funds recorded total revenue of RMB 5.02 trillion, expenditure of RMB 5.75 trillion and a cumulative balance of RMB 6.13 trillion. More than 1.335 billion social security cards had been issued, and over 360 million e-cards. Pension adjustments for retirees were completed nationwide, benefiting more than 120 million retirees. Unemployment insurance coverage was extended to all urban and rural unemployed participants, with 13.37 million people receiving benefits during the year, 8.41 million more than in 2019.

Talent and skills: stronger systems and new occupations.

Reform opinions for 20 professional title series were issued, and mechanisms for career development convergence between highly skilled personnel and professional technical personnel were established. Twenty-five new occupations, such as Internet marketer, were released and 56 national occupational skill standards were promulgated, further improving the occupational standard system.

Labor relations: effective dispute resolution and wage protection.

Labor inspection authorities concluded 55,000 wage-related violation cases and recovered RMB 6.52 billion in wages and benefits for 648,000 workers. A total of 911 non-compliant enterprises were placed on the blacklist for arrears of migrant workers' wages, and 1,804 major cases of wage arrears were publicly disclosed.

Poverty alleviation: all HRSS tasks completed.

Employment-based poverty alleviation raised incomes: 32.43 million poor workers were employed, and more than 90% of the country's 90 million registered poor were supported by industrial and employment measures. Training for poor workers exceeded 2.7 million sessions. By the end of 2020, 60.98 million registered poor people were covered by basic pension insurance, with a coverage rate consistently at 99.99%. The "Three Supports and One Assistance" program sent a total of 225,000 college graduates to grassroots service.

Q&A highlights.

Regarding the social insurance fee relief policy, which expired at the end of 2020, MOHRSS noted that the three social insurance schemes reduced enterprise burdens by RMB 1.54 trillion in 2020 alone — an unprecedented scale. While fees returned to normal collection from January 1, 2021, the phased reduction of unemployment and work-related injury insurance rates was extended for one more year, until April 30, 2022, to support enterprises amid the ongoing pandemic.

On the call to "stay local for the Spring Festival," MOHRSS and six other departments launched a special campaign combining four measures: sending warmth to keep workers' hearts settled, strengthening policies to keep jobs, stabilizing production to keep workers employed, and optimizing services to keep talent in place — including stay bonuses, training subsidies, online and offline job fairs, and one-on-one support for key groups.