The warning signs are being flagged for China’s economy – particularly a rising industrial employment imbalance – even though the government has announced it is aiming for 11 per cent growth this year. In a televised speech, Premier Wen Jiabao said the Chinese economy was “facing difficulties.” Wen added that China must deal with “serious challenges in employment” particularly in coastal cities.
China’s labour supply still exceeds demand, and the urban employment situation “remains severe,” according to a senior Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security official quoted in state media. Some 150 million migrant workers headed to the cities in search of work last year, while the total of urban unemployed officially stands at 24 million. Adding a sense of urgency to China’s job creation programmes is the fact that a record total of 6.3 million university graduates will enter the workforce this year.
One solution, according to a state media opinion article is “for local factories and government to finally make decisions on industrial upgrading.” The article adds that while this will likely result in a short-term fall in revenues for factories and the government, it is “crucial for the sustainable development of factories and for addressing other social issues, such as the ongoing regional employment shortage.”
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Chinese Premier Warns On Industrial Unemployment
The warning signs are being flagged for China’s economy – particularly a rising industrial employment imbalance – even though the government has announced it is aiming for 11 per cent growth this year. In a televised speech, Premier Wen Jiabao said the Chinese economy was “facing difficulties.” Wen added that China must deal with “serious challenges in employment” particularly in coastal cities.
China’s labour supply still exceeds demand, and the urban employment situation “remains severe,” according to a senior Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security official quoted in state media. Some 150 million migrant workers headed to the cities in search of work last year, while the total of urban unemployed officially stands at 24 million. Adding a sense of urgency to China’s job creation programmes is the fact that a record total of 6.3 million university graduates will enter the workforce this year.
One solution, according to a state media opinion article is “for local factories and government to finally make decisions on industrial upgrading.” The article adds that while this will likely result in a short-term fall in revenues for factories and the government, it is “crucial for the sustainable development of factories and for addressing other social issues, such as the ongoing regional employment shortage.”
This entry was posted on Saturday, March 20th, 2010 at 8:09 am and is filed under News commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.