The National People's Congress (NPC) has received thousands of suggestions from the public on its draft employment law and many are targeting foreigners even though the draft provides no provisions to govern their employment, said a source with the NPC.

The draft employment promotion law, which was read for the first time by the NPC Standing Committee in February, was released to the public for comments on March 25.

Although there are no official figures on the number of foreigners employed in China, an increasing numbers are now employed by private enterprises in management, technology, and marketing. With the number of foreign companies launching branches or factories in China, some foreign companies too bring in a great number of foreign staff.

"It's very necessary to use law to regulate their employment in China," said one of the letters received by the NPC.

Other letters said some prosperous coastal areas are recruiting workers, especially women from other developing countries who work for less money than Chinese workers. "If no relevant law exists to regulate imported labor, foreigners will make the already-strained domestic labor market even tighter."

Some citizens suggested the law should also regulate the employment on the mainland of people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao .

An NPC official said on Monday that the current draft employment promotion law does not have any regulations governing the employment of workers from overseas. He said the NPC Standing Committee will further study the necessity of adding such regulations.

The NPC has to date received thousands of suggestions on the draft employment law. Mostly suggestions center on fighting employment discrimination, providing free employment services, promoting employment for university graduates, the disabled, and laid-off workers.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2007)