China's registered unemployment rate is expected to be about a "reasonable" 4.5 per cent this year, according to Ministry of Labor and Social Security spokesman Xin Changxing.
He said the country had a registered unemployed population of 7.52 million by the end of September, equating to a registered unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent.
The increase is expected to come by the end of the year when many on-going projects, using temporary labor, are due to finish.
Xin said the ministry and local governments will continue to formulate preferential policies to relieve heavy demands for employment in China, especially those encouraging the unemployed to start their own businesses.
The preferential policies are expected to include greater reductions, if not a complete waiver, of related tax and administrative fees and streamlined operation approval procedures.
Local governments will guarantee all laid-off workers from State-owned enterprises (SOEs) get timely basic living allowances as promised.
According to Xin, the government has produced a number of effective policies to tackle the unemployment problem, which is largely a side effect of restructuring within the country's SOEs.
From 1998 to 2001, about 25.5 million people were laid off during restructuring. Almost 17 million of them have since found new jobs.
The most effective measure was the establishment of re-employment centers, which form a buffer zone for former employees of SOEs before they tackle the challenges of trying to get reemployed.
(China Daily November 5, 2002)
