Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - China (Ratification: 1997)

The Committee notes with interest the detailed information provided by the Government in September 2009, in reply to the tripartite discussion that took place in the Conference Committee in June 2009 and to its previous observation.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Formulation of an employment policy. The Committee notes that the Government pursues long-term strategies and policies for employment promotion, prioritizes employment expansion in the socio-economic development and endeavours to achieve a healthy interaction between economic development and employment generation. The Government has devoted its attention to developing labour-intensive and tertiary industries, private enterprise and enterprises with foreign investment, small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs), self-employment and flexible forms of employment. To ensure that job creation is placed at the centre of macroeconomic policies, the authorities have established interdepartmental employment working groups for policy coordination. A joint ministerial meeting system which was headed by a vice-premier brought together representatives of more than 20 ministries. Active employment policies are being adopted, focusing on tax reduction, microcredit and interest subsidized loans for business start-up and self‑employment; hiring incentives such as tax reduction and social insurance contribution subsidies for enterprises that recruited unemployed people; public job‑creation schemes for hard-to-place workers; and targeted employment assistance programmes to ensure every family had at least one member in employment. The Government acknowledges the long-term employment pressure that they suffer due to factors such as a large population, industrialization, urbanization, economic restructuring and the comparatively low quality of the labour force. The Government also states that, every year, China has 24,000,000 jobseekers in urban areas and 10,000,000 rural workers yet to be transferred, resulting in a degree of employment pressure not experienced by any other country. In its report, the Government indicated that, since 2003, over 10,000,000 jobs have been created and more than 8,000,000 workers have been transferred from rural areas each year. In 2008, registered urban unemployment stood at 4.2 per cent. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on the impact of the measures mentioned to generate employment.

Measures taken in response to the global crisis. The Committee notes that the crisis has especially affected the exporting sector and SMEs and that migrants and new labour entrants have been among the most affected. In its General Survey of 2010 concerning employment instruments, the Committee noted that the State Council had adopted Notification No. 4 in 2009, which deals with employment issues under the economic situation, and other documents which deal with facing the current economic situation and stabilizing the labour relationship (General Survey, op. cit., paragraph 620). Among the measures taken to respond to the crisis, the Government launched stimulus packages that focus on infrastructure, public works, rural development investment and support for labour-intensive industries, particularly SMEs and the service sector. Enterprises have been allowed to postpone or reduce payment of social insurance contributions and have also received subsidies. The Committee notes that social dialogue is being promoted as a tool to respond to the crisis. The national tripartite mechanism jointly issued the guidance on how to face the current economic situation and to stabilize the labour relationship, to encourage and guide enterprises and workers in stabilizing job posts and avoiding lay-offs as much as possible, by taking, through consultations, measures such as wage adjustments and flexible working time. The Committee notes the importance of genuine tripartite consultations to confront and mitigate the effects of the global economic crisis. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report information on the participation of the social partners in the design and implementation of an active employment policy to overcome the negative effects of the crisis.

Impact of legislation on employment creation. The Government indicates that the implementation of the Labour Contract Law has brought an increase in employment (reaching 93 per cent in 2008), and a decrease in the tendency of signing short-term contracts, which has increased workers’ stability in employment. The implementation of the Labour Contract Law has also resulted in an increase in the number of people signing up for social security. The Government also states that the Employment Promotion Act has translated active employment policies into law, providing powerful legal support for achieving full employment. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the impact and results achieved in terms of productive employment creation and the improvement of employment security for workers through the implementation of the Labour Contract Law and the Employment Promotion Act.

Vulnerable groups. The Committee notes the different employment policies, plans and actions developed to tackle the consequences of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan (May 2008), including employment assistance and support policies to recover production and stabilize employment. According to the data provided by the Government, up to March 2009, the supporting localities had supplied information on over 1,170,000 job opportunities in the areas affected by the earthquake, helped 105,000 workers find employment through remote job-changing employment and direct employment by disaster‑relief reconstruction projects, assisted over 1,267,000 workers to find employment on the spot or nearby and 308,000 workers were transferred from Sichuan through organized labour migration. The Committee also notes that the Emergency-Start and Improve Your Business (E-SIYB) was launched to support SMEs recover production in the area and rural workers to create business in the cities of Chengdu, Deyang and Mianyang. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the regulations adopted to promote employment of people with disabilities. The Government further informs that it has formulated a series of accompanying policies and measures in order to further assist people with disabilities and promote their employment, including special services, improvement of employment services and training to help them start their own businesses and self-employment. The Government has also adopted specific measures for rural workers with disabilities to increase their employability. At the end of 2008, new employment had been found for 368,000 workers with disabilities in the urban areas and 17,171,000 rural workers with disabilities were engaged in active production. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the measures taken in order to promote productive employment for vulnerable categories of workers. Please also include in the next report data on the situation and trends of the active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment disaggregated by sector, age, gender, in particular for vulnerable groups such as young persons, women, people with disabilities, rural workers and ethnic minorities.

Ensuring re-employment of laid-off workers. With reference to the measures to enhance the employability of workers that had been laid off by state‑owned enterprises, the Government indicates that between 2003 and 2008, over 30,000,000 workers had realized work through different channels. The Government has designated occupational training institutions to carry out flexible and diversified trainings and has launched the Re-employment With Skills project, which expected to train 4,000,000 workers per year. Between 2006 and 2008, 68 per cent of the 18,880,000 workers who had participated in the re‑employment training had found work. The Committee notes that companies that hire older workers receive subsidies and that special attention is paid to older workers in the 40–50 age group. The Committee wishes to continue to receive information on the measures envisaged to improve the insertion in the labour market of the remaining workers affected by the lay-off by state-owned enterprises.

Consistency and transparency of labour market information. The Government reports that up to November 2008, seven labour surveys had been conducted. Nevertheless, the complexity of the labour market is not entirely reflected. The Committee notes that the Government is exploring ways to improve these survey methods to enhance the results afforded by them. The Committee noted, in the 2010 General Survey, that the China Enterprise Confederation, through its membership network, is gathering information regarding recruitment, management of human resources and vocational training from companies (General Survey, op. cit., paragraph 80). The Committee recalls the importance of compiling and analysing up-to-date statistical data and trends as a basis for deciding measures of employment policy. The Committee wishes to continue to receive information on the progress made in order to obtain accurate data and how it is being used to formulate and review employment policies.

Constructing a unified labour market. The Committee notes that the reform in the household registration system is steadily advancing and that the reform aims at achieving an integrated management of residence permits for the migrant population. The Government is relaxing the requirement for rural workers who already have stable employment and residence in cities and townships. Efforts are also being made to actively develop village and township enterprises and the county-level economies to increase job opportunities for the rural labour force. The Government informs that it intends to increase efforts to ensure a unified urban–rural labour market and implement the Employment Promotion Law in greater depth so as to accelerate the establishment of an employment policy that embodies equality between urban and rural areas. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report information on the impact of the measures that are being implemented in order to ensure that workers enjoy the same rights and obligations in a unified labour market. Please provide further information on the projects launched to unify employment management and the results achieved by the employment services in providing jobs for rural workers seeking employment in cities. The Committee hopes that the measures to be taken will succeed in unifying the labour market and invites the Government to include an evaluation on how a balanced growth between economic development and employment has been achieved among the different regions of the country.

Extension of social security and healthcare. The Government indicates that social security coverage is being expanded to cover more people, particularly rural migrant workers and workers in precarious employment, and that the establishment of a basic medical insurance system is being accelerated. The Government further reports that from 2009 to 2011, governments at all levels were expected to invest around US$120 billion in improving medical insurance and the medical service system. The Government expects that by 2010 every one of the country’s 1.3 billion citizens will enjoy full health insurance coverage. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report updated information on the matter and its impact on creating lasting employment.

Strengthening employment services. The Government indicates that in 2008, 99 per cent of the urban neighbourhoods and 80 per cent of towns have set up public employment services that provide assistance and job placement services and have helped 20 million people find work. The Committee recalls the key role that efficient employment services play to maintain full employment and to secure the needs to workers and enterprises (General Survey, op. cit., paragraph 202). In 2008, 10,000 private employment agencies operated in the country. The Committee notes that within the efforts to complete and improve the employment services that cover both rural and urban areas, pilot projects for the establishment of county- and town-level public employment service systems were initiated. In 2009, another programme was launched to provide internships for 3 million college graduates, and there were plans to help 1,000,000 long-term unemployed workers to find jobs and assist 8,000,000 migrant workers to transfer to the non‑agricultural sector. The Committee invites the Government to report on the achievements made in strengthening public employment services and regulating private employment agencies. Please also provide information on the measures taken to ensure cooperation between the public employment services and private employment agencies and measures that the Government is taking to encourage private employment services to improve the quality of their services in order for them to fulfil their employment promotion functions.

Promoting small and medium-sized enterprises. The Committee notes the increase of channels to finance SMEs. The Government has also encouraged financial institutions to improve their services and increase their credit support for SMEs, including granting microcredits for individuals setting up their own business. In 2008, the Government issued the guidance on boosting the efforts to encourage start-ups for employment promotion and created a directorate to offer assistance to entrepreneurs which are starting up their businesses. The Committee notes that 82 cities have been selected to pilot a new initiative of Start-up Oriented City. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report more information regarding these pilot initiatives and information on the impact of these measures on employment creation. Please also inform on the measures taken in order to facilitate procedures to start-up business and on the efforts made to create an environment conducive to the creation, development and sustainability of SMEs.

Vocational training and education policies. The Government intends to provide non-agricultural occupational training to 40,000,000 rural workers through the Employment-With-Skill for the Rural Labour Force Programme. Between 2006 and 2008, 26,500,000 rural workers have received training. In addition, some localities have issued training coupons and opened training accounts in an effort to encourage rural workers to participate in trainings. The Committee also notes that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security implemented a special occupational training programme in 2009–10 to provide “tailored training” to meet the specific job requirements of enterprises, so that rural workers may walk directly into the job. The Committee also notes that, to assist laid-off workers and the rural labour force re-enter the labour market, the Government designated occupational training institutions to carry out flexible and diversified trainings. The Committee also noted in the 2010 General Survey that trade unions at various levels had set up vocational training institutions (General Survey, op. cit., paragraph 176). The Committee invites the Government to include information on how the human resource development policies are coordinated with employment policies and on how the Government is strengthening the coordination between vocational institutions. It also welcomes information on how the local entities and social partners participate in the design and implementation of training policies and programmes.

ILO technical cooperation. The Committee notes that the ILO’s SIYB Programme completed activities in areas of product development, quality control and development of trainers. It also notes that the technical assistance provided under the UN Millennium Development Goal, with the ILO as the leading executive agency, expects to improve the content and implementation of the young peasant workers services policy framework. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the results obtained through these projects and also on the results in terms of employment creation derived from the implementation of the Decent Work Country Programme (2006–10).