Yu Faming, director-general of the department of training and employment under the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, told China Daily in an interview: "We have never agreed to introduce Filipinos to work on the mainland."

Yu said foreign workers need to secure visa and work permits from the labor and public security authorities before they can legally work in China.

The official tone countered recent media coverage in Hong Kong, Shenzhen of South China's Guangdong Province and East China's Shanghai which had claimed the first batch of Filipino workers would start work in China during Spring Festival.

According to the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, the booming area's leading daily, Filipino domestic servants were expected to work for affluent business people from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Taiwan Province and expatriate communities.

The newspaper said their introduction suited the growing number of expatriates and nouveaux riches who favor Filipino domestic workers for their good educational background, proficient English and hard-working and amiable character.

Yu said some local newspapers had reported Filipinos could be employed as housekeepers, teachers and au pairs.

He added that local labor authorities have been requested to investigate this, but did not elaborate further.

However, Philippine labor attache to Hong Kong, Bernardino Julve was quoted by AFP as saying over the weekend that Filipinos may soon get permission to work in China, following meetings between labor officials of both countries.

Officials in Guangdong Province and the provincial capital city of Guangzhou have expressed optimism that the problems can be resolved soon, Julve was quoted as saying.

However, Julve was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Officials from the Philippine embassy in Beijing told China Daily that they were not aware whether Filipinos could soon obtain the right to work in China.

But Yu said this right was not on the agenda, as China first had to find jobs for its own unemployed workers. "The job market now is so tight and we have to create more job opportunities for domestic workers."

(China Daily January 21, 2003)