An additional 8.12 million people found jobs in China in the
first nine months of this year, Minister of Labor and Social
Security Zheng Silin said Saturday.
The country created 6.5 million new jobs in the first nine
months, said Zheng, when reporting to the fifth meeting of the
Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC),
the country's top legislature.
"It is very much possible to fulfill this year's goal of
employment when the country is experiencing such favorable economic
growth," Zheng said.
China plans to create eight million new jobs and help re-employ
four million laid-off workers, of whom one million are 40 to 50
years old, to keep urban unemployment below 4.5 percent this
year.
About 3.5 million laid-off workers had found jobs again by
September, of whom 980,000 are aged between 40 and 50, he said.
According to the government, China's urban areas are expected to
add 10 million new job-seekers and six million workers laid off
from state-owned and collective enterprises this year with eight
million already registered jobless, adding up to 24 million who
need jobs.
Companies will be under tighter watch by the government when
laying their employees off, Zheng said.
A company is not allowed to file bankruptcy until it puts
forward a proper and satisfactory solution on how to place its
employees and is forbidden to dismiss people without compensation
in line with laws or to default on their salary, he said.
"Large state-owned enterprises are required to report to local
government before they fire a large number of employees," he
added.
Because of the outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory
syndrome) in the first half of this year, China's service sector
and manufacturing industry failed to recruit as many employees as
usual.
Not all preferential policies for re-employment of laid-off
workers, such as loans and tax cuts, were fully implemented, Zheng
said.
The central government has sent 13 teams to make sure that the
re-employment policies are carried out at the local level, he
said.
Those who misuse the government fund for increasing employment
will be punished, he added.
According to the State Administration of Taxation (SAT), 376,
000 laid-off workers have enjoyed preferential tax policies for
re-employment so far and about two billion yuan (US$241.84 million)
of taxes had been cut by September this year.
(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2003)