Steps to enhance innovation

The government rolled out a variety of measures on Wednesday to further spur employment, according to a guideline released by the State Council.

The guideline said authorities will prioritize employment, job creation and implement a more proactive employment policy.

The guideline includes measures to support businesses to stabilize jobs, promote employment and entrepreneurship and strengthen training services.

As part of measures to boost employment, the guideline said that companies without any, or with few layoffs, can get a 50 percent refund of their unemployment insurance premiums paid in the past year.

The government will also fully use State financing guarantees to support financing for small companies and improve the availability of loans for such businesses.

To encourage entrepreneurship, the government will extend guarantees to eligible firms and individuals in their applications for loans up to 3 million yuan ($430,000) and 150,000 yuan respectively. Laid-off workers in areas with employment difficulties will be provided free office space to start their own businesses.

More government-subsidized training will be conducted to equip the jobless with vocational skills, the guideline said. In the next three years, at least a million young people will be trained, and intern subsidies will be expanded to those age 16 to 24 yet to find jobs.

Eligible individuals faced with difficulty in finding jobs and families without any employed members can receive subsidies for their daily expenses as they receive vocational training, the guideline said.

More support will be extended to unemployed individuals, who can register in their residential areas and apply for favorable policies in employment and starting a business, it said.

The guideline also called for local authorities to issue unemployment insurance to those in need and provide them with subsistence allowances.

The State Council decided at an executive meeting on Wednesday to expand the implementation of a number of steps to better drive innovation and spur creativity.

According to a statement released after the meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, the country will extend the implementation of a number of reform measures nationwide to mobilize innovation resources, incentivize innovation activities and nurture new drivers of growth.

Such measures have been piloted in eight Chinese cities and regions, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Shanghai and Guangdong province.

The measures include ones that are designated to incentivize the commercialization of R&D findings. Universities and research institutes will be encouraged to participate, through commercial deals, in business research on technological breakthroughs. Professional managers will be encouraged to take part in the whole commercialization process.

More innovation in financial technical services will be encouraged so that there can be more financing channels for small and medium-sized tech companies, including asset-light firms and firms yet to make a profit. Local government equity funds will be channeled to support seed and early stage high-tech startups. Insurance companies will be encouraged to develop products that cover patent enforcement and patent infringement to forestall patent holders’ losses from intellectual property rights violations.

Market-based operations of State-owned scientific research bodies and equipment will be promoted. Mechanisms will be established to allow for innovation-related decision-making on a trial-and-error basis, the statement said.

It was also decided at the meeting that three reform measures will be piloted in eight cities and regions. Among the measures, researchers will be allowed to claim a certain percentage of their research findings. Colleges that are not under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education will be allowed to bring in talents and conduct evaluations on professional titles on their own.

The meeting also passed a draft regulation on emergency responses to work accidents. The regulation prioritizes emergency responses in key areas and for major accidents, and made clear requirements for training and the development of first-response teams.

The Ministry of Public Security said on Friday that it has launched a nationwide campaign to reduce road accidents during the winter.

Police across the country will step up traffic management, dealing with offenses and control to provide the public with a better traffic environment, the ministry said.

Offenses such as driving under the influence of alcohol and using fake license plates will be targeted, and checks on key roads will be stepped up, it said, adding that minivans in rural areas will be another key target of the campaign.

During the campaign, police across the country will increase coordination to step up law enforcement.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a notice on Thursday that it will launch a one-year campaign targeting monopolies of broadband services in business buildings.

The campaign will protect the

The securities regulator punished three companies for price manipulation and insider trading in an effort to protect the interests of retail investors.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has imposed fines totaling 1.11 million yuan ($160,700) on three companies in its latest crackdown on illegal market operations.

Gao Li, a spokesman with the commission, said that the authority has always maintained a tough stance against financial market violations.

Thanks to the enhanced crackdown,