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Vice Premier Reports Progress, Urges More Effort on Re-employment

China has made significant progress in re-employment efforts since 1998, but the situation is still grave and much work still needs to be done, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Bangguo said in his report at a national re-employment conference on Thursday in Beijing.

Wu said since the May 1998 national conference on guaranteeing a basic livelihood for laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises and their re-employment, all localities and departments had done a lot of work and made significant progress in improving the social security system and increasing employment.

He said the government's "two guarantees" policy - guaranteeing a basic livelihood for laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises and guaranteeing basic pensions in full and on time for all retirees - had been virtually achieved. Another policy, ensuring a basic livelihood for needy residents in urban areas, had also been basically fulfilled.

Yet the employment situation remained very grave, and China must pay great attention to the issue of finding new jobs for laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises, said Wu. He urged all localities and departments to increase job opportunities using every possible means.

He called for the development of tertiary industry, especially traditional service industries, to create more job opportunities. He also said developing the private sector, labor-intensive enterprises and auxiliary businesses of large and medium-size state-owned enterprises could play a leading role.

He said that preferential policies would be implemented to encourage and support laid-off personnel to find new jobs by themselves, encourage enterprises to absorb laid-off workers and provide special employment assistance to women above 40 years old and men above 50 years old among the laid-off workforce.

He called for providing training and improved services to laid-off workers.

Wu said creating jobs in communities and building a social security system were important bases for boosting re-employment efforts.

The conference was convened by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council. Chinese President Jiang Zemin made an important speech at the conference.

Premier Zhu Rongji, who presided over the meeting, called on conscientious study of guidelines and policies raised at the conference and carry forward the employment and reemployment work in full swing.

(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2002)