The system had basically taken shape in Tibet thanks to five years of hard work by local labor and social security departments at various levels, said Qi Weiguo, deputy director of the region's Labor and Social Security Bureau.

Major breakthroughs had been achieved in guaranteeing the basics of life for laid-off workers and creating reemployment channels for them, the official said.

The range of labor and social security departments in Tibet are exploring all avenues to expand employment channels. They have launched a series of training courses for the unemployed and laid- off workers that include learning to drive and vehicle repairs, computer skills, tailoring, cosmetics and hair-dressing.

Through the courses, a total of 4,708 unemployed and laid-off workers have earned occupational qualification certificates, and some 4,541 among them have found jobs. The employment rate among those receiving training hit 50.8 percent, the official said.

China's central government has all along paid high attention to labor and social security development in Tibet, the official stressed.

He noted that in the past five years, State financial departments have allocated special subsidy funds totaling 395.06 million yuan (US$47.6 million) for the purpose of guaranteeing basic necessities for workers laid-off from state- owned enterprises and creating reemployment opportunities for them.

Some 364.27 million yuan (US$43.8 million) from the total subsidy fund have been used to supplement old-age pensions, and some 30.79 million yuan (US$3.7 million) have been channeled into assisting laid-off workers, the official said.

Up till now, a total of 102 reemployment service centers have been set up in Tibet, offering services to 2,172 workers laid-off from the region's state-owned enterprises.

The range of reemployment centers across the region had collected 25.46 million yuan (US$3 million) altogether to fund the basic necessities of life for laid-off workers, the official said, adding that 91 percent of those retired from companies had secured an old-age pension.

The basic medical insurance system has also been promoted steadily in Tibet.

By the end of 2002 some 418 companies in Lhasa were participating in the system, covering 57,071 staff altogether, and collecting basic medical insurance premiums totaling 41.37 million yuan (US$4.98 million).

Moreover, a labor contract system has been set up and is making headway in Tibet. Over the past five years, Tibet's labor and social security departments had given priority to the full introduction of the contract system, and supervised its implementation, the official said.

As a result, the labor contracting rate had grown and the system's coverage further expanded, he added.

The number of those employed under labor contracts in Tibet increased from 38,028 in 1998 to 66,591 in 2002, statistics show. And the number of companies operating under the collective labor contract system increased from 150 in 1998 to 531 in 2002.

Meanwhile, creating a legal system for labor security has also been stepped up in Tibet, the official said. A total of 715 labor disputes have been handled in the past five years, involving disputed funds totaling 58.64 million yuan (US$7 million).

And some 651 or 91 percent of labor disputes have been resolved, recovering 52.87 million yuan (US$6.37 million) in workers' salaries, said the official.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2003)