SCIO briefing on China's economic performance in 2022
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 3, 2023
Bloomberg News:
My first question is about the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate usually rises in December, based on the last five or seven years. But this year, it fell. How do you explain that change in the historical pattern of unemployment, especially considering that in December, most of China seemed to have COVID-19 and economic activity was very, very limited? My second question is related to the question from the Financial Times. Will you be releasing monthly death data in the coming months, considering how much interest there is in how many people have died and how fast that is increasing? Thank you.
Kang Yi:
Thank you for your questions. Everyone pays close attention to the issue of employment and unemployment, and you have also been very careful to analyze China's urban survey unemployment rate data released every December for many consecutive years. In December 2022, the unemployment rate in China's urban survey fell by 0.2%, mainly due to the decline in the labor participation rate. In December, the labor participation rate fell by 1.1 percentage points, because migrant workers returned home. Moreover, some were recuperating at home after COVID-19 infections, and their willingness to participate in work was low, which was the main reason for the decline in the labor participation rate.
As for the second question, on Jan. 14, the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism held a press conference on the current situation. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has shared its data on the pandemic, including information on infections and other aspects, with the world, its people and relevant institutions at the earliest opportunity. Since the pandemic prevention and control entered a new stage, relevant data will be released according to the relevant provisions of the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases and according to the rules that manage Class B infectious disease, as COVID-19 management was downgraded from Class A to Class B.
Thank you.
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