Economic development can be the only solution to China's pressing
unemployment problems, said Zhang Zuoji, minister of labor and
social security.
During the 10th
Five-Year Plan (2001-05), China's labor and social security
authorities are going to face a more serious situation and
a tougher task, with unemployment expected to increase.
To solve the problem,
China will take measures to boost the development of labor-intensive
industries, especially private businesses. The development
of the tertiary sector will also be given due consideration,
according to Zhang.
Both have the potential
to take on large numbers of employees.
Education will
also be used as a lever to reduce the surplus labor supply.
People entering
the labor force will receive one year to three years of professional
education. The measure is aimed at improving the quality of
the labor force as well as reducing unemployment figures.
China is working
to establish a life-long education system for laborers, which
involves lengthened basic education, adult education and professional
education, according to Zhang.
At a press conference
at the Fourth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress
which was held earlier this month, Zhang announced that China's
urban registered unemployment rate will be kept below 5 percent
for the next five years.
According to Zhang,
the 5 percent target was set in the country's 10th Five-Year
Plan.
The figure was
3.1 per cent during the Ninth Five-year Plan period (1996-2000),
which means an unemployed labor force of 5.95 million.
The minister attributed
the increase from 3.1 percent to 5 percent to a number of
reasons, with population growth the major factor.
This year, the
State will start to close re-employment centers. Those who
still fail to find work will be transferred to social security
departments.
Eventually, there
will be no more "laid-off" workers. "Laid-off
workers" refer to those who lost their jobs because their
employers suspended operations during the economic restructuring.
They are different, however, from the unemployed, because
they receive living allowances from re-employment centers
set up by their original employers.
(China Daily 03/31/2001)
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