DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Wednesday, June 30, 2021 | 5 CHINA Flexible employment helping stabilize job market

State Council exploring provision of tecting their rights if they are hurt charge,” Song said. “Training cours- “Flexible employment has invigo- there were agencies contacting me, on the job. es and supporting policies are also rated the job market, showing its saying that they could make me an pensions and healthcare insurance “We’ve first streamlined adminis- available to these people.” great potential and advantages,” Li internet celebrity,” he said. “Finding trative procedures for individuals Li Zhong, vice-minister of human Yan, director of 58 Tongcheng a job last year was not that easy, but By CHENG SI 11 percentage points from 2019. selling agricultural products and resources and social security, told Recruitment Research Institute, the agencies can’t secure me a stable [email protected] “Starting their own businesses and daily supplies at officially approved the news conference that the gov- said in an interview with Economic income. I finally gave up the chance joining flexible employment are places,” Song said. “Financial sup- ernment is not only reducing limita- Information Daily. and sought a job as a teacher at a China will continue to channel important ways for people to get jobs port available to startup operators, tions on the development of flexible She said that flexible employment kindergarten.” more resources to promote flexible and earn more, which has also drawn and small and medium-sized enter- employment, but also creating more has expanded people’s job options Li Qiang, vice-president of Zhao- employment as it has played a key attention from the central govern- prises has also been improved.” flexible jobs for people and securing thanks to its flexible working time pin, an online recruitment platform, role in stabilizing the job market. ment, giving them continuous finan- He said secured loans to individu- their rights to gain pensions and and methods of employment. said that intensifying competition More than 200 million people are cial and policy support,” Song Xin, als planning to open businesses rose healthcare insurance. “It has also helped companies in finding jobs has made more peo- involved in flexible employment, an the ministry’s deputy director for to 200,000 yuan ($31,000) from the In the face of great employment reduce their labor costs and opti- ple, especially the young, join flexi- official from the Ministry of Human employment promotion, said at a previous 150,000 yuan, while the pressure, encouraging flexible mize their human resources struc- ble employment, but it needs Resources and Social Security said. news conference late last month. cap rose to 3 million yuan for small employment will continue to be an ture,” Li said. “Employers can match regulation and support from the Flexible employment has become He said the government is mak- and medium-sized companies. important way to help people land openings and job hunters faster and government. an important way for people to ing efforts to give more support to He said that government services jobs, especially those in key groups. more efficiently.” “Flexibly employed workers have increase their incomes, and also a flexibly employed workers. offering job information and help- According to the latest figures Xie Liang, a 24-year-old from concerns about their incomes, way of relieving employment pres- In May, a State Council executive ing incubate companies have also from the National Bureau of Statis- Qingdao, Shandong province, said insurance system and disadvanta- sure. meeting decided to further support been enhanced. tics, the 9.09 million college gradu- he once considered being a lives- ges in labor disputes as the law on According to a report by Renmin the development of flexible employ- “The ministry has set up over ates this year still largely face treaming anchor, but the uncertain flexible employment is not perfect- University of China in December, ment by exploring a pension system 8,800 incubation centers nation- difficulties landing jobs, though the future of the job and unstable ed yet,” he said. “Improving flexible around 56 percent of domestic com- and healthcare insurance for those wide for startups, with some of job market has continued to expand income deterred him. workers’ skills is also vital, which panies employ workers flexibly, up who are flexibly employed, and pro- them open to individuals free of this year. “I did livestreaming at college and can help them get a better career.” lake once Enter the graduate foul, but now flourishing A student from Mozambique per- forms a Chinese By Yuan Hui in Hohhot been a sharp decrease in the num- martial arts routine and Hou Liqiang ber of mosquitoes, Zhang said. In at Taiyuan Universi- stark contrast, the number of birds ty of Technology in A black, odorous body of water has risen noticeably. Taiyuan, Shanxi that used to be dotted with dead fish Zhang, 52, said he remembers province, on Mon- in the Inner Mongolia autonomous white swans showing up at the lake day. The university’s region has been rejuvenated and is in “twos and threes” before the College of Interna- now a paradise for birds thanks to water quality turned bad. Currently, tional Education local authorities’ conservation however, they arrive in flocks. Exchange held a efforts. The protection of the Ulansuhai ceremony for 78 Photographer Qi Hongyan still Nur basin has been a matter of con- overseas students has vivid memories of a visit to cern for President Xi Jinping. who recently gradu- Ulansuhai Nur, the biggest lake in While deliberating with fellow ated. the basin, almost a dec- deputies from Inner Mongolia at the WEI LIANG / ade ago. fourth session of the 13th National CHINA NEWS SERVICE “When the boat I was on cruised People’s Congress on March 5, Xi across the lake, the propeller stirred said he had issued directives about up black water,” he said. “I tried to the lake multiple times. make the water not look so black in There has been marked improve- my photo by adjusting the camera’s ment in the area, but persistent exposure, but I couldn’t.” efforts are still needed, he stressed. A bad smell engulfed the air, and According to local authorities, you could easily find dead fish float- over 260 bird species either live at ing around the lake’s shore, he add- the lake or rest there as they ed. migrate. Their number totals 6 mil- According to local authorities, the lion, but no previous figures are lake’s environment deteriorated due available for comparison because of to years of pollution from agricul- a lack of observation. tural, industrial and domestic waste Du Zhangui, director of the Ulan- water, with inadequate replenish- suhai Nur ecosystem protection ment of the lake water from the Yel- center, said that all the water in the low River making the situation even lake was previously below Grade V, List of medicines expanded for bulk-buy program grimmer. the lowest in the country’s water quality system. By WANG XIAOYU lion yuan a year,” he told news out- One example is Oxaliplatin, an Now, some of the parameters for [email protected] let ThePaper.cn. injection used to treat advanced Ulansuhai Nur water quality assessment in some China launched the national 25.5 colon cancer that is usually taken parts of the lake have reached as China plans to add a record 61 centralized procurement mecha- billion yuan twice a week. After being put on the high as Grade II, the second-highest types of medicine to its national nism in late 2018 as part of efforts Estimated amount of money list, its price dropped from 1,760 level, he added. bulk-buy program, with an average to alleviate the public’s medical that the new bulk-buy program yuan per dose to 310.5 yuan. According to local authorities, price cut of 56 percent, the coun- burdens. The mechanism asks could save patients in a year The preliminary list includes 251 Inner Mongolia aside from beefing up fertilizer and try’s drug procurement authority drugmakers to significantly cut pri- products from 148 pharmaceutical pesticide control at nearby farms, 11 said last week. ces to win bids for enrollment in companies, including 10 foreign- sewage treatment plants have been The range of medicines involved large-volume procurement led by tions, commonly used for inten- funded enterprises. built in the area as part of the local is also unprecedented, covering the government. sive care and treatment of serious Gong said the increasing num-

CHINA DAILY government’s efforts to prevent pol- products for common chronic ill- Since then, five rounds of the symptoms at hospitals, account for ber of foreign companies on the list lutants from entering the lake. A nesses such as high blood pressure, program have been rolled out, about half of the list and 70 per- means that many costly imported But when Qi, 64, recently revisit- 60-square-kilometer wetland has coronary diseases and diabetes, as including the most recent one that cent of the estimated market val- drugs will be affordable for the ed the lake in , also been created to help purify well as multiple cancers, according wrapped up in Shanghai last week. ue. public and the domestic market is Bayannuur League, what he saw left water before it enters Ulansuhai to a preliminary list released by the A total of 218 types of medicines Ding Yilei, an official at the becoming more appealing to for- him stunned. Nur. nation’s centralized drug procure- have been listed so far, involving National Healthcare Insurance eign drugmakers. “The water was so beautiful. It is The local government has also ment office on June 23. about 220 billion yuan, according Administration, said injectable Yao Yu, a researcher at the Chi- azure blue in the photos,” he said. been diverting water from the Yel- Gong Bo, an official at the Shang- to authorities. drugs take up about half of the nese Academy of Social Sciences’ As the boat moved, a school of fish low River during the flood season to hai Municipal Healthcare Insur- Final results for the fifth round chemical pharmaceutical market. Institute of Economics, told Xin- closely followed, and big flocks of supplement the water body. ance Bureau, said this round of have yet to be released, but patients “Listing more of them in the hua News Agency that about 50 for- birds came into sight now and then. However, Zhang said the water procurement is estimated to are expected to be able to access the national centralized procurement eign-funded companies had “I was so excited,” he said. quality is still far from what it was involve drugs worth about 55 bil- drugs at reduced prices in October, program signals that China has participated in this year’s bidding Zhang Zhijia is more keenly when he was young. lion yuan ($8.5 billion), the highest they added. zeroed in on the most significant process, signaling their increasing aware of the change in the lake as a “You could drink water from it value ever. “It is estimated that the A notable feature of the latest portion of the costly medicine sec- willingness to engage in the nation- resident of Wayaotan village, which directly back then,” he said. new list could save patients 25.5 bil- round is that injectable medica- tor,” he said. al procurement mechanism. lies near it. Most of the funding to conserve Villagers suffered a lot from the the water body comes from higher lake’s terrible environment. Its levels of government, but as water black, odorous water offered favora- quality keeps improving, he expects ble conditions for mosquitoes. It to see tourists flock to the lake and Medical workers to receive better pay and benefits was no exaggeration to say that a bring the area revenue that could be random pat on your face could kill used to make the local environment By WANG XIAOYU manner that can guarantee a rea- resolve disputes between medical several insects when you walked even better. [email protected] sonable amount of rest for workers workers and patients. “Training to near the water, he said. and avoid exhaustion,” said the improve medical workers’ aware- But thanks to the improvement of Contact the writers at China will improve the working document, which was jointly Establishing a long- ness of their personal safety will the lake’s water quality, there has [email protected] conditions, wages and benefits of released by the Ministry of Human term mechanism for also be offered,” it added. medical workers, including disease Resources and Social Security and A number of measures listed in control personnel, as part of a “long- the Ministry of Finance. protecting and caring the guideline had already been term mechanism” aimed at boosting “Arrangement of additional paid for medical workers implemented during the epidemic their care and protection, according leave for those participating in to give more support to front-line to a guideline released by the Nation- curbing acute health threats will ... promote an doctors and nurses working under al Health Commission last month. should be based on the length of atmosphere across enormous pressure to diagnose The guideline set out a series of their involvement and the severity society of respecting and treat patients. measures targeting healthcare of risks they face,” it said. As the domestic spread of COVID- workers involved in coping with In a notice explaining the guide- and recognizing the 19 has been largely brought under public health emergencies, such as line, the commission said that dur- importance of control, China is now working to prioritizing the distribution of pro- ing the COVID-19 epidemic, improve the long-term treatment of tective equipment to those on the medical workers committed them- healthcare workers.” and respect for healthcare workers. front line, arranging paid leave, selves to battling the virus with a National Health Commission Liu Shiding, former deputy dean issuing subsidies and additional selfless and courageous spirit. of Peking University’s sociology pay, streamlining the evaluation of “Establishing a long-term mech- department, told the Medical Doc- work-related injuries, and helping anism for protecting and caring for importance of healthcare workers,” tor Weekly newspaper that strate- them address personal difficulties medical workers will enable them the notice said. gic decision-making at the national in child rearing and elderly care. to continue fighting against viral The guideline also required the level is needed to increase the sense “Healthcare institutions should diseases in good health, and pro- bolstering of security systems and of gain and self-worth among doc- Mute swans take flight on Ulansuhai Nur in the Inner Mongolia set up positions, allocate personnel mote an atmosphere across society measures at medical institutions, tors, as well as to improve the social autonomous region last month. LUO YUEZHONG / FOR CHINA DAILY and manage shifts in an adequate of respecting and recognizing the and taking proactive action to status of the profession.