China’s Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang urged the labor department to step up efforts create more employment opportunities for the country’s millions of migrant workers. In his appeal he stressed the importance of employment for China’s social stability. Official numbers now state unemployment in China up 0.2 percent at 4.2 percent but with migrant workers not included in these statistics the numbers are not fully representative. Hidden unemployment among migrant workers as well as underemployment mostly in state-owned enterprises continue to pose a significant challenge for China’s future development.
What seemed to be a minor incident early this week is raising tensions between China and Russia. A Chinese cargo ship sank off the coast of Vladivostok on Sunday after being under fire from a Russian Navy vessel. The circumstances of the incident are still somewhat obscure and both countries are currently investing the events that culminated in the sinking of the cargo vessel. China heavily criticized the Russian authorities about the attack and the subsequent rescue efforts for the crew.
Deputy Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said China may reconsider its 8 percent economic growth target during an legislature annual meeting next month. The growth of China’s export sector, one of the main contributors to the country’s economic growth, slowed down significantly as an effect of the drop in demand in traditional target markets in the U.S. and EU. The meeting might readjust the economic growth target below the 8 percent threshold, officially seen by China as necessary to insure sufficient employment creation and social stability. With decreasing export growth China could step up efforts to increase investment and consumption, the other major contributors to economic growth in China.
Brazilian state-owned oil giant Petrobras agreed to deliver up to 100,000 barrels per day to China’s state-owned oil company Sinopec in exchange for a $10 billion loan from the China Development Bank. The agreements were signed during China’s Vice President Xi Jinping’s official visit to Brazil. A few days ago a similar loan-for-oil deal was signed between China and Russia.
