Premier Li Keqiang announced a growth target of 6.5 to 7 percent for the year in the government work report at the legislative annual session on March 5.

Yao Jingyuan, special researcher at the advisory office of the State Council, explained why the growth target is set within a range and why it is important.

According to precise calculation, a growth target of no less than 6.5 percent can meet this year’s basic requirement for full employment, said Yao.

The researcher said that China, with a large population base, faces greatest employment pressure in the world. China had 7.27 million and 7.49 million university graduates in 2014 and 2015 respectively and will see an increase of another 160,000 this year.

And many junior and senior middle school students who decided to suspend their schooling, soldiers who no longer serve in the armed forces as well as those who finish their overseas studies also need to find jobs. One can imagine what a great pressure China is facing.

In solving this, Premier Li Keqiang said in the government report that China aims to create at least 10 million new urban jobs and keep the registered urban unemployment rate within 4.5 percent this year.

According to the calculation, in order to achieve this employment goal, the economic growth should not be less than 6.5 percent, said Yao, adding that range-based growth target proposed in the report is a significant supplement and improvement of the macroeconomic control theory.