China to Promote Employment in CountrysideChina is to launch a three-year rural employment program to help people in the countryside find jobs, according to sources with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security under the State Council.The ministry hopes that the plan will push ahead the ongoing restructuring of agriculture and rural economies, and the modernization of the countryside. In a trial run of the program, some coastal regions as well as developed areas in the western and central China will be selected as sites for opening a regulated labor market. Training courses will be opened to assist surplus rural workers find jobs other than farm work. Migrant workers will be encouraged to go back to their hometowns and establish business there. Statistics show that China has a surplus labor force of 150 million in countryside, and 50 million more will be added to the figure in the next five years. The trial run will be organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the State Development and Planning Commission, ministries of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Water Resources, and the Development Research Center of the State Council. |
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