China published the "2003-2010 Plan on Training Farmer-Transformed-Workers" in full text Wednesday.

According to the new plan, from 2003 to 2010, China will provide basic training to 60 million rural laborers before they go to urban areas for jobs.

The plan, jointly issued by six ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, also includes a program providing professional training to more than 200 million rural laborers who have already been employed in urban regions.

Statistics show that China now has some 150 million redundant rural laborers and the number is increasing by 6 million every year.

Only 9.1 percent of the rural laborers have received professional training, making it difficult for rural laborers to find stable urban employment. Among the newly transferred rural labor force in 2001, the ratio stood at 18.6 percent, said the plan.

(Xihua News Agency October 1, 2003)