"Economic growth itself doesn't necessarily generate employment or reduce poverty," Chris Pond, MP, parliamentary undersecretary at the United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions, said in Beijing Friday.  

For the past 20 years Britain has had a period in which economy was growing, but unemployment and poverty remained. "So the whole community wasn't sharing the fruits of economic growth," said Pond, adding that creating jobs should be given top priority by all governments.

British unemployment is currently at its lowest level in nearly 30 years. Britain has managed to show the best unemployment rate of the G8 major industrialized countries through active employment policies and active labor market policies, Pond said. In addition, a new organization called Jobcenter Plus was established to deliver help and advice on a personal and individual basis to all unemployed people.

On April 26, the Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China published a White Paper on China's Employment Situation and Policies. Pond said that he is pleased to see the Chinese government's determination to meet the challenge of unemployment.

On Thursday, Pond said, China and Britain signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate in creating jobs in both countries.

"And the British side is very much looking forward to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the United Kingdom next week." Pond said that Wen's visit would provide another opportunity to deepen cooperation between the two countries.

Pond said that currently Britain has 600,000 job vacancies and it does need people from other countries to help sustain its economic prosperity. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that the UK needs to encourage managed migration but at the same time prevent illegal immigration.

In recent years, two illegal immigration tragedies occurred that involved Chinese citizens. "One in Dover and the other in Morecombe Bay, killing 48 and 20 Chinese citizens, respectively, have deeply touched the hearts of British people, and made the British government all the more determined to work with the Chinese side to make sure this will never happen again," said Pond.

There are opportunities to work in the UK, but Chinese citizens should be told that they must work on legal basis to make sure they are fully protected by the country's employment standards, such as the minimum wage law, he stated.

Pond is in Beijing to attend the China Employment Forum. The forum, co-organized by the Chinese Ministry of Labor and Social Security and International Labor Organization and held from April 28 through 30 in Beijing, brought together 25 nations to talk about ways to meet the challenge of unemployment.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Shao Da, April 30, 2004)