Shrinking agriculture
There is also a change in the country's employment structure. The number of workers in primary industries, namely the agricultural sector, is decreasing. But the growing number of workers in the service and manufacturing industries seems to offset that decrease.
In 2006, more than 325 million people worked in the agricultural sector, 43 million and 11.7 percent less than in 2002. At the same time, employment numbers in secondary industries like manufacturing and construction, reached 192 million, 34 million and 21.8 percent more than in 2002, with an annual increase of 8 million.
Agriculture, which made up more than half of the overall employed population in 2002, made up only 42.6 percent in 2006.
The government has also been supportive in the development of labor-intensive industries, which have created many jobs. Workers employed in the manufacturing industry, the fastest-growing sector, increased by 22.7 million people between 2002 and 2005, with an average annual increase of 7.5 million. During the same period, industries such as wholesale and retail and food and beverage, experienced a large increase in total employment.
The NBS report showed a decrease in the number of workers employed by State-owned and collective enterprises. By the end of 2006, the State employed 74 million workers, down more than 10 million compared to 2002.
The report showed an increase in the number of workers employed by other types of enterprises like share-holding companies and foreign-invested enterprises. From 2002 to 2006, non-public sectors employed more than 43 million workers, with an annual increase of 11 million.
The government has also taken many measures to control China's unemployment rate. The registered unemployment rate in urban areas was kept between 4 percent and 4.3 percent from 2002 to 2006.
Despite all the progress, the NBS report said, many challenges lie ahead. These include finding employment for fresh graduates and for the many workers retrenched by State-owned and collective enterprises.
