Editor’s Note: As the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will open soon, CCTV.com had produced a 20-episode special series, ‘Amazing China - A 5-year Miracle,’ that cover the hottest topics in the country during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first 5-year term in office. Our CCTV Panview team brings you a closer look...
The 2016 UEFA European League winter transfer window has just closed. Despite many European large-scale transfers, the Chinese Football Association Super League has won the highest attention-getter. Since last year, the Chinese Super League (CSL) signed on the most on-demand player - Oscar, the Brazilian ex-Chelsea star, who joined Shanghai SIPG F.C. and is getting paid 400,000 pounds weekly.
There have also been half the top 10 players from 2016 winter transfer signing up with Chinese Super League on account of very rewarding contracts that have lured in more and more players to China.
Additionally, the enormous employment market has attracted international talents in a wider range of professions, which include 100 Russian pilots transferring to China in the last two years, since their annual earnings would rank No.1 in the global industry, surging to as high as 200,000 - 300,000 US dollars.
Meanwhile, overall Chinese income has continued with strong growth rates in recent years. In 2016, it has increased 8%, tripling the global average 2.5%. What an incredible achievement for a developing country that has over 1.4 billion people!
Although average Chinese income has not topped the world’s charts, Chinese have less worries due to the government’s appropriate measures, such as employment. In 2016, there had been 198 million unemployed cases across the globe, with the number predicted to reach 200 million in 2017. Among those, half of Europeans and one quarter of Americans who are jobless have been seeking jobs for 6 months or more.
In contrast, the employment status in China has been the best in the world so far.
When the global unemployment rate kept floating on a 5.8% level, China has been heading in the opposite direction.
For the past five years, China has maintained strong employment opportunities for over 12 million young people entering the job market each year. That’s up to 65 million people in total, which equals half of the Japanese population.
According to a report published by U.S. News & World Report, China appears to be the best place for job seekers.
Besides employment, the Chinese health care system has also witnessed major upgrades.
Over 1.3 billion people are covered by the Chinese medical insurance system, which is the largest scale of its kind in the world. There are huge numbers of public hospitals in China with incredible high efficiency. One week earlier appointment booking is not required for small diseases such as fevers, neither will you experience months of delays waiting for an operation or spend countless hours waiting for care in the emergency room. Just go see a doctor whenever you need it.
Meanwhile, a comfortable retired life looks more promising in China as well.
The Chinese pension has increased on a constant level for 13 years. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has issued elderly pension cards in many cities in the past five years, which will grant them favors in riding a bus and park entrances. Also, special services are provided for the elderly at many restaurants, so a balanced diet can be guaranteed for them.
Why are the Chinese worrying less lately?
Let’s take employment as an example. The Chinese government has taken various actions to resolve the unemployment problems in the past five years. The development of high technology such as Internet-plus strategy and AI (artificial intelligence) has boosted employment in many sectors.
Preferential policies such as the reduced enterprise tax revenue and issuing loans have benefited businesses that employ more workers. Such policies have encouraged more start-ups and created many job opportunities. Moreover, China has also reinforced its public employment services by providing workforce training to the unemployed.
The increasing Chinese employment and social benefits serve as a reflection on significant economic growth, while China has made the greatest contribution - 33.2% - to global economic growth.
Chinese President Xi Jinping once claimed that creating an ideal life for people is the ultimate goal of the Chinese government. Today, the employment status, annual income and social insurance have made significant progress. Meanwhile, the Chinese are moving forward to embrace an even better future.
(The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com. )
Panview offers a new window of understanding the world as well as China through the views, opinions, and analysis of experts. We also welcome outside submissions, so feel free to send in your own editorials to "globalopinion@vip.cntv.cn" for consideration.
