The government has no plans to invest its social security fund,
up to 130 billion yuan (US$15.7 billion), into capital market in
the Chinese mainland.
Zheng Silin, minister of Labor and Social Security, Tuesday
announced the decision, aimed at protecting the fund and avoid
fluctuations in the mainland's growing capital market.
Days ago, the State Council gave the National Council Social
Security Fund the go-ahead to invest in overseas capital markets.
According to some estimates, only about 5 billion yuan (US$603.8
million) will be initially invested in Hong Kong.
At Tuesday's press conference, held during the ongoing ten-day
session of National People's Congress (NPC), which opened last
Friday, Zheng said the social security fund should follow a prudent
investment methodology to minimize risks.
The labor minister also said meeting the cabinet's goal of
creating 9 million new jobs this year in China is a difficult task
considering the target economic growth rate is down to 7 percent
this year from 9.1 percent.
He said the government will use every means at its disposal to
put registered urban jobless rate under 4.7 percent.
A total of 24 million job hunters are expected to flood into
nationwide labor market in 2004.
Premier Wen Jiabao set the goal during his work report when he
opened the session last Friday.
"We have difficulties in achieving the goal," said Zheng.
He didn't detail the problems but vowed to take concrete
measures to offer solutions to achieve the goal.
For example, the government will slow down closures of
inefficient State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to lessen unemployment
while encouraging SOEs to employ surplus laborers in subsidiary
operations instead of laying them off.
"The practice we began to use last year is effective to control
jobless rate," said Zheng.
Together with laid-off workers, college graduates and
farmers-turned-workers are finding it difficult to find jobs.
A total of 2.8 million university graduates are expected to
overload China's already-crowded labor market in 2004. Last year,
2.12 million joined the labor force but only 70 percent of them
have been employed.
Meanwhile, Vice Minister of Labor Wang Dongjin said the
government will do its utmost to help migrant workers get decent
jobs in cities.
In the next seven years, about 70 million migrant workers will
receive basic training and many will get additional professional
training, government officials have said.
The training is aimed at informing potential migrant workers of
the basics, including safeguarding their rights and interests, and
offering them knowledge about laws, regulations and facts for
living in cities, as well as job hunting skills.
Wang said the professional training will focus on sectors like
housekeeping services, the restaurant business, hotel services,
healthcare, construction and manufacturing.
In order to ensure the success of the plan, funds will be
allotted by both the central government and local governments at
all levels.
About 300 million yuan (US$36.1 million) will be earmarked by
the central government this year in the training of migrants. The
investment last year was just 50 million yuan (US$6 million).
The vice minister also announced at the press conference that
China plans to draft and improve a relevant mechanism to ensure
that rural immigrant workers in cities be paid on time and in full
in 2004, saying his ministry is to expedite the drafting of
regulations on labor supervision and salary payment in 2004. In
addition, an early-warning system will be instituted to deter
payoff default and help rural migrant workers to get back their
defaulted salaries.
"We will exert our utmost to tackle farmer workers' wage arrears
issue and provide them with the same social security protection as
their urban peers," said Wang.
Minister Zheng said that the Chinese government will do away
with local regulations that discriminate against rural migrant
workers and set up a labor market with urban and rural laborers
competing on the equal footing. Individuals and enterprises
infringing upon lawful rights of rural workers will be penalized
harshly, Zheng added.
From 2003 to February 2004, China had helped rural migrant
workers to get back defaulted wages of more than 25 billion yuan
(about US$3 billion), or over 90 percent of the total wage
arrears.
Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to tackle the thorny issues
concerning defaulted construction costs and wage arrears for
migrant workers in the construction sector within a span of three
years in his government work report last Friday.
"The goal is achievable," said Wang Dongjin.
At present, there are some 93 million rural migrant workers in
China, mostly working in the construction and service sector.
(Sources from China Daily and Xinhua News Agency March 10,
2004)