Well into an economic transition, Heilongjiang in northeast China, a major farming province, will see at least 3.5 million farmers move to manufacturing sector jobs this year alone.

More than half of the province's 9 million farmer are expected to take advantage of government aid to flow into other industries.

For its part, the province is looking for more ways to ensure an income for surplus rural laborers. One major option is to train farmers with skills the market needs.

Statistics from the Heilongjiang Provincial Agricultural Commission show that until the end of October, the province transferred almost 3.41 million rural workers out of farming. An increase of 40 percent over the same period last year.

The province abounds in rural labor resources.

Since it is a main grain production base, agriculture plays an important role in Heilongjiang.

Of the 9 million farmers there, 4.6 million could work across the country or abroad.

Unlike farmers in most of southern China, farmers in the northeast usually sow only once a year, in the spring, because of the cold climate.

During the cold winter, they remain idle.

At the same time, mechanization has made vast numbers of farm workers redundant.

"By transferring the surplus laborers to other industries, we aim to create more opportunities to increase their income," said Jia Lebin from the Heilongjiang Provincial Labor and Social Security Bureau.

"They would not live just from the farmland. They can also find jobs to make some money," he said.

"But what they lack are skills to meet the job requirements. They need to be trained."

By the end of October, nearly 440,000 rural laborers had received vocational trainings and most of them had made a successful transfer.

"Our labor supply used to feature physical workers," said Men Xianjun, director of the employment center under the bureau.

"They encountered fierce competition from other provinces and usually had lower wages."

"Vocational training will sharpen their competitiveness and help them earn a higher pay," he said.

"And they are encouraged to come back to Heilongjiang to start their own businesses after they gain experience and accumulate some money in more developed areas," he said.

Many areas of the province have specialized in specific types of labor, for example, electric welding workers from Anda, security personnel from Hegang, housekeepers from Yi'an and taxi drivers from Qiqihar.

This is because many local governments made contact with places that are thirsty for laborers and conducted a survey on the labor demand situation.

Then these areas started to train their own rural laborers according to the demand and their own conditions, notably Anda, which has set up more than 170 vocational training programs and helped nearly 15,000 rural laborers find jobs.

"We strengthened our co-operation with other provinces in sharing employment information," Jia said.

"Thus we could train our rural laborers according to the demand on the labor market."

The province has established long-term employment contracts with many cities in the country, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, which have a huge demand for laborers.

This year, labor departments throughout the province supplied more than 1.3 million rural workers nationwide and abroad. 

(China Daily November 25, 2004)