and the State Administration of Taxation jointly released five measures on December 21 to stabilize the employment market by reducing burdens on companies in difficult situations. The measures, which address the labor surplus problem for the moment, let companies postpone the payment of social security fees for their employees, reduce social security fees, expand the coverage of the unemployment insurance fund, encourage companies to retain all their employees, and provide financial support for workers to take training courses to upgrade their skills. “The message of the policy is that the government has to address unemployment at the very beginning of the problem,” Yu said. “We have to encourage companies to keep as many employees as possible by offering them financial support.” The MHRSS predicts that the postponement or reduction of social security fees and the expansion of unemployment insurance could help enterprises save nearly 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) this year. The essence of the employment promotion policy is that the government will resort to a variety of measures to boost employment, Yu said. First and foremost, it will offer more job opportunities by launching a series of major government-funded projects and boost employment through expanding domestic demand for services and products. At the same time, it will improve related policies, encourage the development of laborintensive service industries, provide support for small and medium-sized companies and companies operating on narrow profit margins, and support and guide the development of the non-public economy. The government will actively help companies to ride out the crisis and instruct them in adopting flexible working hours, in addition to maintaining—instead of raising—the current minimum salary benchmark. It also will reinforce unemployment rate control and