The latest statistics show that some 690,000 of Shanghai's 830,000 laid-off workers have found newjobs, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. This is attributed to the city's efforts to strengthen reemployment services, and creation of new jobs.

Shanghai now has a job information network which covers the city's urban and rural areas, and has used television and telephone hotlines to provide employment information to job-seekers.

More than 65 percent of the 155,000 displaced workers who participated in professional training found jobs in 1999, higher than the figure for the previous year.

The city now has over 7,000 non-official labor organizations, which have helped 70,000 people to find jobs in catering, repairs,and other service sectors.

Shanghai also has 167 welfare labor organizations for extremelyneedy laid-off workers, and they have helped some 36,000 workers find jobs.

Mayor Xu Kuangdi said that Shanghai has vowed to create 100,000jobs this year by establishing a responsibility system for employment and job creation.

Xu said the city government will offer support in the areas of finance, credit, and taxation and social security, and by so doingthe number of registered local laid-off workers will be kept within 80,000 this year.