China to create 10 million jobs in cities in 2008
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-05 10:23

Facing huge pressure of unemployment in the country, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here Wednesday that the government will work to create 10 million jobs this year and try to keep registered urban unemployment rate at around 4.5 percent.

"Providing adequate employment opportunities in China, which has the largest population in the world, is a daunting challenge," Wen said in his government work report delivered at the opening meeting of the top legislature's annual full session.

"We must redouble our efforts to increase employment, a matter that is crucial to people's well-being," the premier said.

China's urban unemployment rate in the past five years has been contained within 4.3 percent, government figures show.

China will work to expand employment "by encouraging business startups, strengthen job training and training in how to start a business, encourage people to find jobs on their own or start their own businesses, and support the establishment of small enterprises," Wen said.

In fact, coping with the 150 million rural workers who have flocked to cities is another challenge for the government.

Wen promised that the government will speed up development of a human resources market with uniform standards for both urban and rural areas, improve the public employment service system, and promote the creation of an employment system that "treats urban and rural workers equally."

The other job creation friendly measures the premier proposed include:

-- to improve the aid system for job seekers, carry out policies to find more jobs for people with physical and mental disabilities;

-- to create a permanent mechanism to help zero-employment families find jobs;

-- to urge all types of enterprises to sign labor contracts with their employees in accordance with the law and abide by them;

-- to improve the handling of labor disputes and oversight for worker protection measures and severely punish illegal employment practices.

According to the premier, China spent a total of 66.6 billion yuan in the form of subsidies from the central government budge to support employment programs over the past five years, helping more than 10 million urban people get jobs and 8 million rural workers find jobs in nonagricultural sectors per year on average.

The problem of finding other employment opportunities for workers laid off from state-owed enterprises was basically solved, and the work of incorporating basic cost of living allowances for laid-off workers into the unemployment insurance system was completed, said Wen.

"The employment situation remained basically stable despite a large increase in the total workforce and great pressure on employment," he said.