The Chinese government Friday issued a white paper on its human resources, highlighting the country's policies to cope with employment pressures and a lack of "high-level innovative talents."

The white paper, released by the State Council Information Office, introduced the country's human resources situation, related laws and regulations and protection of workers' rights and interests.

It says China's 1.3 billion population was "a vast reservoir of human resources," and "actively developing human resources, bringing into full play the potential ability and value of each individual and promoting the people's all-round development" is a significant aim.

China has a labor force of more than 1 billion people, 112 million more than in 2000, and the number of employees reached almost 780 million.

A nine-year compulsory education was made universal throughout the country in 2000, and illiteracy among people between the ages of 20 and 50 was basically eliminated, it says.

By the end of 2009, the average schooling of people above 15 years old had reached nearly 8.9 years, while that of the majority of the working population was 9.5 years, of which 9.9 percent had received higher education, it says.

The paper says "people having professional knowledge or special skills who contribute to society through creative work are highly regarded in China." By the end of 2008, "the high-quality labor force" had reached 114 million.

It says the average disposable income of urban residents increased from less than 100 yuan (14.7 U.S. dollars) in 1949 to 15,781 yuan in 2008, and the average net income of rural residents increased from 44 yuan in 1949 to 4,761 yuan in 2008.

China has established a human resources development legal system based on the Constitution, including the Labor Law, the Civil Servant Law, the Labor Contract Law, the Employment Promotion Law and the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, the paper says.

It says facing the difficulty that supply of labor outstrips demand, China always has the arduous task to "secure stable employment and create more jobs."

Making employment promotion a top priority, the government strives to help urban and rural workers enhance their overall qualities and gradually expands employment, it says.

From 2005 to 2009, more than 50 million new jobs were offered in cities, and nearly 45 million surplus rural workers were transferred to non-agricultural sectors, it says.

To meet the need of establishing an innovative nation, the government has launched several high-tech R&D programs and trainings. It says full-time Chinese R&D personnel reached 2 million in 2008, nearly three times that in 1991, almost 1.6 million of whom were scientists and engineers. The number of post-doctoral researchers exceeded 70,000.

It says free nine-year compulsory education is available to all children, urban or rural, throughout the country.

To promote human resources development in Western China, the government has carried out a training plan for "the backbone personnel in the scientific and technological field" in Xinjiang, Tibet and Qinghai, it says.

China trained 2,888 ethnic-minority professionals last year, it says.

According to the paper, the government has gradually increased its input in human resources development, with official investment accounting for 10.75 percent of the country's GDP in 2008.

The paper says the civil servant system, which is a "competitive mechanism" under which open selection and competition for positions are used from officials' appointment to promotion, has been implemented to ensure competent personnel stand out.

From 2006 to 2009, more than 528,000 people were recruited as civil servants through examinations, and from 2003 to 2009, a total of 40,000 leading cadres of the Party and government were appointed through open selection, and 339,000 cadres at different levels were selected through competition, it says.

It says the personnel recruitment system has also been improved in public institutions and state-owned enterprises.

According to the paper, the country has set up and constantly improved a national system of honors and rewards. Since 2000, more than 27,000 people have won China's Science and Technology Award, 16 prominent scientists of whom won the top award.

A multi-dimensional human resources market has gradually been formed in China since the 1980s as its economy, dominated by the public ownership, is growing along with diverse forms of ownership, it says.

The paper says it has been the government's consistent development concept "to respect people's right to work, stress the protection of workers' rights and interests, realize the dignity of labor and promote people's all-round development."

The country makes efforts to ensure equal employment between women and men, and pays great attention to the protection of rural migrant workers' and disabled people's rights and interests.

On international exchanges, the paper says from 1978 to 2009, the number of Chinese who studied abroad reached more than 1.6 million, almost 500,000 of whom had returned to China upon completion of their studies, and about 1.69 million foreign students from 190 countries and regions studied in China during the three decades.

The government also sent 50,200 officials overseas on economic management or other special training programs in 2009, it says.