The state has basically established a market-oriented employment mechanism and a nationwide social security system, Zhang Zuoji, Minister of Labor and Social Security, said at a press conference held on the sidelines of the ongoing 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The years since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee in 1989 have been a period in which China's labor force has been expanding rapidly and more people have found job opportunities in the tertiary sector and private sector, he said.

According to Zhang, the number of people employed across the country rose to 730 million in 2001 from 650 million in 1990.

The number of workers in state-owned enterprises fell by 25 million during the period, while the number of workers in the private sector chalked up an increase of nearly 30 million.

The systems of unemployment insurance and government allowances for laid-off workers and low-income urban residents have also been set up in the meantime, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2002)