More than 15 million ex-farmers in east China's Jiangsu Province have been employed in industries other than agriculture in the past 20 years, according to the provincial labor department.

 

Statistics from the department show 7.91 million ex-farmers were employed locally and 7.55 million got their jobs in places away from their native land.

 

In 2005 the province provided the rural labor force with 1.18 million person-times of training. It is estimated that 37 percent of the rural labor force in the province has received training.

 

The province has accelerated the pace of employing rural laborers in the past five years. It encourages and helps them work in cities and towns, enterprises and industrial parks, the department said.

 

Thanks to the employment, farmers in Jiangsu have harvested 640 yuan (US$80) per person from labor services, which has contributed 17 percent to their income growth.

 

With a total population of 74 million, the province has a rural labor force of 16.76 million.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2006)