Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK):

With the mainland experiencing negative population growth for the first time in 60 years, are you concerned about its potential impact on China's future economic growth? Thank you.

Yu Jiadong:

You mentioned the problem of population decline. From an employment perspective, this relates to its impact on the labor force supply. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's working-age population between the ages of 16 and 59 declined to 876 million at the end of last year, down from a peak of 920 million. The decline in the labor force occurred amid an overall abundant supply, and China remains a developing country with the world's largest population and labor force. In terms of the labor structure, the decline is mainly because older workers are withdrawing from the labor market, and their number has declined rapidly. In contrast, the young labor force has increased steadily. It is estimated that 16.62 million young people will enter the job market in urban areas this year, reaching a new high in recent years. And the pressure on total employment is still high.

In the next step, we will continue to implement the employment-first policy, strengthen economic development in an employment-oriented way, expand employment capacity, alleviate structural problems in employment, strive to improve the quality of employment, and achieve full and high-quality employment to facilitate sound economic development. Thank you.