According to the report, at the end of 2000 China's total labor population was 711.5 million, of which 50 percent were in the agricultural sector, 22.5 percent in the manufacturing sector and the rest, 27.5 percent, were in the service sector.

The report showed that at the end of the year China's urban registered unemployment rate was 3.1 percent. The number of laid-off workers from various state-owned enterprises was 6.57 million, a slight increase than at the end of the previous year.

In the year 2000 about 3.61 million laid-off workers found new jobs, the re-employment rate for the year was 35.4 percent, the report said.

According to the report, there were 38.76 million urban retired workers last year, whose basic living standard had been guaranteed by various labor and social security departments.

In the vast rural areas, the endowment insurance reform had been further deepened, with 61.72 million people buying certificate of endowment insurance.

The report also showed that in the year 2000, the averaged annual wages for urban workers was 9,371 yuan (some US$1,140), up 11.4 percent from that of the previous year in real terms.

Among all the work units, the average wages of workers in those collective-owned ones was the lowest and that of workers in private and overseas-invested ones was the highest.

Statistic figures of China's Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan province are not included in the report.

(Xinhua 04/26/2001)