Bonuses of 1,000 yuan were handed to 150 skilled workers on Wednesday as part of efforts to attract more trained talents to Chaoyang district.

Officials presented the cash rewards at a training program certification ceremony. Among the recipients were 30 workers without permanent residency in Bejing.

The district annually allocates about 3 million yuan in subsidies for staff training projects and this year increased the amount from 900 to 1,000 yuan per person. "The government tries its best to get more workers to attend training and get senior technical certifications," said Wang Lei, director of occupational capacity development from the district human resources and social security bureau.

Chaoyang has 161,000 skilled workers, with roughly one-third classed as "senior", he said. Although the percentage is higher than average for Beijing, local officials want to increase it to 35 percent by 2015.

An employee of a catering company called Zhang, who hails from Henan province, said: "I never expected the government could give me such an honor. I will stay with the company for a long time."

China Daily

(China Daily 04/21/2011 page)