It is reported from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security there are already 20 million people who have been issued "employment certificates" since introduction of these in China in the last seven years.

Profession certificates serve as basic qualifiers for job hunters in China and valid documents as well for those who seek employment abroad.

In 1994, China began to set up a professional qualification certificate system to meet the country's demand for labor reform and the rise of a new emerging labor market. Statistics show that labor departments in China have been operating with 6,900 professional skills assessment offices to have more than 4,000 types of occupation standard rules issued..

In 1999 alone, there were altogether 3,380,000 people who had taken part in professional assessments organized by labor departments at all levels in China. Of these, 2,920,000 have been granted with professional qualification certificates.