Laid-Off China Enterprise Workers Total 6.8 MlnThe number of workers laid off from China's state-owned enterprises totaled 6.8 million at the end of June, an increase of 250,000 from the end of 1999, according to statistics from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.The average monthly living allowance of these unemployed workers was 323 yuan ($39) in the first six months of this year, up 28 percent from the same period last year, the report said. The Chinese government is set to dismantle a system that allows surplus factory workers to remain technically on the payroll, collecting a small living allowance. Staff laid off from state companies after the new policy is adopted will be counted as unemployed and be eligible for government welfare programs, the paper said. |
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