Chinese Government Takes Concrete Measures to Boost Employment

Anchor:
The global financial crisis has brought great challenges to the employment market in China.

In order to tackle the problem, the Chinese government has taken concrete steps to create jobs for migrant workers and college graduates.

Our reporter Shuang Feng has more.

Reporter:
About 20 million of China's migrant workers have returned home after losing their jobs as the global financial crisis takes a toll on the economy.

Cai Fang is director with the Institute of Population and Labor Economics at the Chinese

Academy of Social Sciences. He admits the importance of creating jobs for migrant workers.

"In the past few years, the growth of rural income has largely come from the earnings of migrant workers. If they lose their jobs, the level of rural income will see a nosedive. What's more, most of the migrant workers, about 60%, are under the age of 30. They have a high mobility. If we don't handle their employment situation properly, it could risk destabilizing society."

To help the laid-off migrant workers, the central government has been urging local and central government departments to adopt measures to create jobs and increase rural income.

Chen Xiwen is director of the office of the central leading group on rural work.

"We encourage enterprises in urban and coastal areas to keep migrant workers or dismiss only a few of them. We also provide training opportunities to reinforce their capabilities. The construction of public infrastructures will offer jobs to as many migrant workers as possible. We will also help migrant workers set up their own business."

College graduates are another group facing great challenges in finding jobs. Statistics show more than 6.1 million college students graduated this year.

Education Ministry spokeswoman Xu Mei says the government has made detailed measures to encourage college students to work at grass-root level.

"These plans include sending volunteers to western China, encouraging college students to assist the agriculture sector, support education, provide medical services and aid the poor in rural areas. For example, we recruited 100,000 college graduates to support education in rural areas."

Under government guidance, more than 4 million collage graduates found jobs by July.

However, experts indicate the employment situation in China still faces challenges. They suggest offering more jobs in public infrastructure construction projects, and encouraging private-funded enterprises to create more jobs.

Shuang Feng, CRI news.