Emphasis placed on cultivating skilled talent

China will step up efforts to cultivate highly skilled talent to boost core competitiveness and optimize employment.

By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), both policy support and the training system will be optimized, according to a guideline released by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on Oct 7.

Skilled talent is due to account for more than 30 percent of the employed, while highly skilled personnel is due to account for one-third of all skilled workers by the end of 2025, the guideline said.

By 2035, both skilled and highly skilled talent should have developed to the point where China will be able to realize its socialist modernization goals.

Intensified efforts should also be made to train highly skilled talent that is most urgently needed while giving emphasis to vocational schools in their training.

The guideline noted that employment mechanisms, occupational standards, and evaluation systems for highly skilled talent should also be optimized.

State Council pushes for more one-stop services

Businesses and individuals will no longer have to travel from department to department when dealing with matters like opening new businesses and applying for birth certificates, as the State Council is working on ways to provide better government services.

In a guideline issued on Oct 3, the State Council, China's Cabinet, required governments at all levels to establish a working mechanism that enables coordination and connection among different departments before the end of this year in order to provide one-stop services for 13 official matters related to businesses and individuals.

By 2025, the coverage of one-stop services in all localities should be further expanded.

In order to provide one-stop services, the guideline stressed efforts to organize processes, streamline application procedures and inform applicants of all the materials they need to avoid the need for repeated visits.

Relending facility to assist equipment upgrades

The People's Bank of China, or the central bank, announced that it has set up a relending facility worth more than 200 billion yuan ($28.1 billion) to help manufacturers and other companies upgrade their equipment, according to a statement issued on Sept 28.

In all, 21 financial institutions will give loans to qualified firms in support of equipment upgrades, with interest rates no higher than 3.2 percent between Sept 1 and Dec 31, the statement said. The PBOC will then issue the funds to approved institutions with an interest rate of 1.75 percent.

According to the PBOC, the lending facility will support sectors including education, health, culture, tourism and sports, electric vehicle chargers, urban underground facilities, new infrastructure, and industrial digital transformation.

Efforts to boost equipment upgrades in weak sectors will help expand demand in the manufacturing sector and boost socioeconomic development, the central bank said.