Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said Thursday he was concerned as the municipal government struggled to create jobs as the population has exceeded 20 million in this China's biggest city.

"It is really a hard nut to crack," Han told the 12th Annual Asia Leadership Forum, which opened in Shanghai Thursday.

The mayor quoted a recent sample survey as saying the actual population surpassed 20 million this year, with a floating population of more than 3 million.

"Job creation will be one of the priorities, or one of the most difficult challenges in future," Han said.

The current registered unemployment rate in Shanghai was 4.8 percent in November, or more than 300,000 jobless, according to the municipal government's latest statistics.

Han said Shanghai could only create some 100,000 new jobs in 2003 as the city's 400,000 - plus job opportunities were offset by 300,000 job cuts due to restructuring and reorganization of enterprises.

However, the mayor said he was still optimistic of keeping the registered unemployment rate under 5 percent this year.

Other challenges waiting amid Shanghai's plan to become a center of the world economy, banking, shipping and trade also include environmental deterioration, traffic jams, the slow development of private enterprise and the transformation of governmental functions to reduce official interference in the economy, said the mayor.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2003)