"Economic growth itself doesn't necessarily generate employment
or reduce poverty," Chris Pond, MP, parliamentary undersecretary at
the United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions, said in
Beijing Friday.?
For the past 20 years Britain has had a period in which economy
was growing, but unemployment and poverty remained. "So the whole
community wasn't sharing the fruits of economic growth," said Pond,
adding that creating jobs should be given top priority by all
governments.
British unemployment is currently at its lowest level in nearly
30 years. Britain has managed to show the best unemployment rate of
the G8 major industrialized countries through active employment
policies and active labor market policies, Pond said. In addition,
a new organization called Jobcenter Plus was established to deliver
help and advice on a personal and individual basis to all
unemployed people.
On April 26, the Information Office of the State Council of the
People's Republic of China published a White Paper on China's
Employment Situation and Policies. Pond said that he is pleased to
see the Chinese government's determination to meet the challenge of
unemployment.
On Thursday, Pond said, China and Britain signed a joint
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate in creating jobs in
both countries.
"And the British side is very much looking forward to Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the United Kingdom next week." Pond
said that Wen's visit would provide another opportunity to deepen
cooperation between the two countries.
Pond said that currently Britain has 600,000 job vacancies and
it does need people from other countries to help sustain its
economic prosperity. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Tony Blair
stated that the UK needs to encourage managed migration but at the
same time prevent illegal immigration.
In recent years, two illegal immigration tragedies occurred that
involved Chinese citizens. "One in Dover and the other in Morecombe
Bay, killing 48 and 20 Chinese citizens, respectively, have deeply
touched the hearts of British people, and made the British
government all the more determined to work with the Chinese side to
make sure this will never happen again," said Pond.
There are opportunities to work in the UK, but Chinese citizens
should be told that they must work on legal basis to make sure they
are fully protected by the country's employment standards, such as
the minimum wage law, he stated.
Pond is in Beijing to attend the China Employment Forum. The
forum, co-organized by the Chinese Ministry of Labor and Social
Security and International Labor Organization and held from April
28 through 30 in Beijing, brought together 25 nations to talk about
ways to meet the challenge of unemployment.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Shao Da, April 30, 2004)