Li urges small businesses to create jobs

Premier Li Keqiang called on small private business owners to build their brands and contribute to employment and the national economy at a ceremony on Monday.

At the event, marking the 30th anniversary of the China Privately Owned Business Association, the premier met with more than 200 representatives of the group. Among them was Zhang Huamei, a 56-year-old woman who in 1980 obtained China's first permit to open a small private business.

Such businesses now provide 40 percent of the country's jobs and have played a vital role in boosting economic growth, vitalizing the market and meeting the public's diversified demands, the premier said.