About 4 million laid-off worker in China attended vocational training for reemployment in 2008, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said Monday.

Another 400,000 received education to start self-employed business, which encouraged individuals to be their own bosses and make a living, the ministry's spokesman Yin Chengji told Xinhua.

"We have set up special funds and are using social unemployment benefits to strengthen training for workers. We also emphasized vocational training for the laid-offs, especially the migrant workers," Yin said.

He said the training would cushion the impact of the global financial crisis and was aimed at stabilizing the employment situation in the country.

East China's Shandong Province had organized training programs to 230,000 laid-offs last year, and 75 percent of those trained found new jobs, according to local government figures.

The Ministry of Finance also said in mid-January it would play a leading role in creating jobs in government-initiated projects such as civil infrastructure building and environmental protection.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2009)