Ministry lauds employment numbers

Yin Weimin, head of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, talks to reporters at a press conference in Beijing at the annual session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said Tuesday that newly added jobs in urban areas reached over 57 million during the 11th Five Year Plan period (2006-2010), up 35.7 percent from the previous five years.

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Urban registered unemployment rate has been kept under 4.3 percent, the ministry said at a press conference in Beijing at the annual session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

Nearly 45 million rural surplus laborers have been transferred to non-agricultural sectors, 5 million more than during the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005).

In regard to the labor shortage in coastal areas, the ministry's head Yin Weimin said the country still faces the situation where labor supply outnumbers demand, and easing the pressure of employment is still a priority.

"Labor shortage occurs because demand rises as China's economy recovers, and many migrant workers choose to work near their hometowns in the country's central and western part as these places develop," Yin said.

Yin said the ministry is working on policies to ease labor shortages while admitting that rural labor surplus is decreasing and the new generation of migrant workers have higher expectations.

By the end of 2010, total employment of both urban and rural areas reached nearly 790 million, among which urban employment stood at 320 million, up by over 47 million from the end of the 10th Five Year Plan period, according to the ministry.