The government and all quarters of society in China are dedicated to economic growth and job creation, and they have made useful exploration and scored salient achievements, said Vice Premier Huang Ju in Beijing Wednesday.

Huang made these remarks in his address to the opening ceremony of the China Employment Forum, a special forum co-sponsored by the International Labor Organization and China's Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

China considers job creation crucial to the people's lives and state stability, and its government pledged to "take more substantial and effective policies and measures, and devote more substantial efforts for seeking a solution to China's employment problem," Huang told some 500-plus participants and 25 governmental delegations.

Vice Premier Huang said that providing employment opportunities to all the people able to work is an essential precondition of economic growth and social progress, and also an important obligation and mission of every government in the world.

He noted that governments of all nations should further coordinate economic growth and job creation, place employment promotion at a more prominent position, and increase government and public input in employment promotion.

Meanwhile, he added, countries should choose development strategies and economic growth models conducive to job creation, and strengthen the exchanges and cooperation between countries and regions.

Huang briefed on China's achievements in the reform and opening-up over the past 25 years, and the present economic situation.

The Chinese government considers job creation the root of people's lives and the policy for a stable nation, and puts it at a more prominent position, the vice-premier said.

China has taken effective policy measures to cope with the employment problem, including maintaining a stable and relatively high speed of economic growth to promote employment, continuously implementing proactive employment policy, speeding up the establishing and upgrading of public employment service system, improving the employment assistance system to help people with difficulties getting work, and further enhancing the exchanges with other countries and international organizations.

Prior to the forum, Vice Premier Huang met with the director-general of the International Labor Organization.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2004)