Minister: China´s employment situation "very severe" this year

Source: Xinhua | 03-09-2008 11:30

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Labor and Social Security Minister Tian Chengping said here Sunday that employment situation is "very severe" this year, although the country provided 51 million jobs in urban areas in the last five years.

China's Labor and Social Security Minister Tian Chengping  said in Beijing on Sunday that the country's employment  situation is "very severe" this year, although the country  has provided 51 million job posts in cities in last five  years.(Xinhua Photo)

He said on the sidelines of the First Session of the 11th National People's Congress that about 20 million new laborers emerge in urban and rural areas every year, and China will have a large contingent of new labor force for quite a long time.

However, the cities and towns can provide around 12 million job posts every year, and a large quantity of rural laborers are flowing into cities, Tian said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in his government work report at the parliamentary session on Wednesday that "providing adequate employment opportunities in China, which has the largest population in the world, is a daunting challenge."

Some economists predicted that the tight monetary policy may slow investment enthusiasm, but at the same time put more pressure on the country's already strained employment market.

Editor:Zhang Ning