Early in September, six ministries including the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security jointly launched a rural laborer training plan to help China's under-educated rural laborers gain professional skills and find urban employment.

The plan also includes a program providing professional training to the 200 million rural laborers who have already been employed in urban regions.

Statistics show that China now has some 150 million redundant rural laborers and the number increases by six million every year.

Only 9.1 percent of the rural laborers have received professional training, making it difficult for rural laborers to find stable urban employment.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2003)