Chinese President Xi Jinping: "Address Employment Discrimination and Illegal Dismissals"... Targeting JD.com?

Ahead of the 3rd Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), where the direction of China's economic policy will be presented, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized employment and job issues. In particular, he indirectly pressured the e-commerce company JD.com, which recently faced controversy over employee layoffs, by mentioning complaints related to illegal dismissals by some companies.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 28th, after the research session of the Politburo meeting of the CPC Central Committee the previous day, President Xi instructed the attendees to "actively develop new enterprises and new business models and actively foster new occupations to develop new sources of job growth," emphasizing "full and high-quality employment."

[Image source= Xinhua News Agency]

At this meeting, he mentioned issues regarding illegal dismissals by some companies and pointed out the mismatch between job demand and supply, especially among the younger generation. President Xi stressed, "Employment is the most fundamental livelihood of the people and is related to the sound development of the economy and society, as well as the long-term stability of the country," adding, "The process of high-quality development should be one that creates more and better jobs, and that development should promote better employment."

This statement came ahead of the university graduation season next month. The number of university graduates expected this year is a record high of 11.79 million. In the past, President Xi has encouraged Chinese university graduates to seek employment in grassroots organizations, rural areas, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

There is also speculation that these remarks were aimed at JD.com, which has recently been embroiled in controversy over employee layoffs. JD.com recently strengthened attendance management and laid off some employees, which spread on social media as the "5.21 Incident." In particular, criticism grew after reports emerged that an employee who worked overtime until dawn preparing for China’s largest discount event, the ‘618 Festival,’ was notified of dismissal the next day. According to local reports, JD.com has also implemented new regulations starting this week, including counting the number of employees arriving by 9 a.m. daily, requiring explanations for tardiness, shortening lunch breaks to between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., and prohibiting turning off the lights during this time.

Meanwhile, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the youth unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 24 last month was 14.7%, down from 15.3% the previous month, but still nearly three times the national average unemployment rate of 5% during the same period. China created 4.36 million urban jobs from January to April this year, a 2.8% increase compared to the same period last year. The annual job creation target for China is 12 million.