An additional 8.12 million people found jobs in China in the first nine months of this year, Minister of Labour and Social Security Zheng Silin said on Saturday.

Zheng made the remark when reporting to the fifth session 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 8 million new jobs and help re-employ 4 million laid-off workers, of whom 1 million are 40 to 50 years old, to keep urban unemployment below 4.5 per cent this year.

According to government statistics, China's urban areas are expected to add 10 million new job-seekers and 6 million workers laid off from State-owned and collective enterprises this year with 8 million already registered jobless, adding up to 24 million who need jobs.

Zheng said 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.

But not all preferential policies for re-employment of laid-off workers, such as loans and tax cuts, were fully implemented, and the central government has sent 13 teams to make sure that the re-employment policies are carried out at a local level, he added.

Wang Chunzheng, vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the fast development of small towns across the country has made room for the growth of village-based industries and created employment for rural labourers.

Wang said in his report to the NPC on Saturday that China currently has 485 million rural labourers, including 150 million who are out of work. More than 94 million farmers have migrated to cities to find employment.

Wang said 133 million rural people had found jobs in village-based enterprises by last year, 5 million more than in 2000.

(China Daily 10/27/2003 page2)