China needs an additional 24 million jobs for its unemployed urban residents, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security said here on Friday.

A ministry spokesperson said the figure includes the about 10 million young urban residents who were added to the urban labor market earlier this year, 6 million workers laid off from State-owned and collectively-owned firms, and nearly 8 million jobless residents registered with government labor agencies.

But experts said China's growing economy could add only about 10 million jobs this year, if the national economy grows at about seven percent this year.

That means there will be an oversupply of labor totaling some 14 million people in urban China, they said.

The situation may be made even worse as some of China's tens of millions of jobless farmers compete with urban residents for jobs.

The Chinese central government set a target of creating jobs for 8 million jobless urban residents earlier this year, helping 4million laid off workers find jobs, including one million in their40s and 50s.

An official with the ministry said it is possible for China to keep the registered jobless rate at or below 4.5 percent in the urban areas, citing fast economic growth and substantial efforts made by governments at various levels.

About 18.3 million workers laid off by State-owned enterprises have found jobs during the past five years, according to the ministry. Most of them are employed by the service sector and private companies.

Their reemployment made it possible for China's State-owned sector to undergo strategic restructuring in the past five years as the country shifted from a planned economy to a market economy.

The number of employees at the country's State-owned sectors totals 50 million at present, as against 71 million five years ago.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2003)