According to the latest statistics, 15.2 million of laid-off workers found jobs this year in northeast China's Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces.

With the help of governments at all levels, Jilin Province built up an employment information network which covers its 2,611 towns and community employment aid organizations. Up to date, around 200,000 people have found jobs through the network.??

To solve the problem that laid-off workers are commonly short of funds for training or starting their own business, Liaoning Province raised 310 million yuan (US$37.5 million) in 2003 to offer them aids in funding. Meanwhile, the province decreased 15 million yuan (US$1.8 million) of tax on laid-off workers who have started their private businesses.

Heilongjiang Province set up 266 employment training organizations. Over the past year, the organizations provided training to 230,000 laid-off workers, of whom 140,000 have found new jobs.?

(China.org.cn by Feng Yikun, December 28, 2003)