China's watchdog of state-owned assets will encourage the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under its supervision to initiate various training programs for their staff beginning from 2004, so as to improve the workers' educational level substantially and cultivate a group of skilled workers.

Wang Ruixiang, deputy director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), made the remarks Thursday at a mobilization conference aiming to spread the successful experience of some SOEs in this field.

"SASAC is drafting guidelines to help the SOEs to initiate training projects, and the document will be delivered to the 189 SOEs in early 2004," Wang said.

The SOEs should make the training project part of their development strategy on the basis of their actual situation, and try to establish an effective system for exploring human resources in two years, he said.

Adequate funding is of importance for the training program, Wang said. All SOEs should use an equivalent of 1.5 percent of the workers' total salary for their further education, and personal ability and working performance should be stressed in the evaluation and promotion of the working staff.

There are nearly 10 million people working in the SASAC-supervised SOEs, with about 80 percent working in the front lines of manufacturing, trade or management. The SOEs as a whole, according to Wang, are still short of senior skilled workers and high-quality talents, and most workers are not well-educated.

"We should change the situation by providing more training opportunities to the workers." Wang said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2003)