China's biggest PC maker, Legend Group Ltd. will lay off about 600 employees this year as part of a restructuring plan to help jump-start flagging growth, a spokeswoman said.

The job cuts would affect about 5 percent of the total workforce of 12,000 people, the Hong Kong-based spokeswoman said.

"It may lead to some department mergers and (elimination) of overlapping positions," she said, without elaborating on which divisions would bear the brunt of the layoffs.

Legend said in February it fell short of its three-year plan due to overly optimistic forecasts and underestimating the competitive environment in China after it joined the World Trade Organization in late 2001.

(Shenzhen Daily March 12, 2004)