| Private sector catches up fast in Communist China By Reuters May 1, 2002, Today BEIJING � China�s once reviled private sector is poised to overtake the state in terms of economic clout as millions of people jostle for new jobs amid the nation�s most wrenching reforms under Communist rule. The share of the private sector in the fast-growing Chinese economy hit 33%, just below the state sector�s 37%, according to a quarterly survey by China�s labor ministry, state media said on Tuesday���. Millions of workers in the massive but inefficient state sector are facing job losses and an acute shortage of relevant skills as grossly inefficient state firms streamline or close. China is looking to the private sector to absorb swelling ranks of unemployed migrating in droves to booming cities from the impoverished countryside to find work. Beijing has highlighted unemployment and the need to build a social security net as critical issues ahead of sweeping leadership changes due this September or October. Analysts say labor unrest is a potentially explosive issue that could jeopardize a smooth power transition after thousands of (state) workers protested last month against unpaid wages and insufficient welfare support in northeastern cities. Those protests appear to have petered out under the heavy hand of the government, but analysts see room for more unrest as discontent over official corruption and acute income disparities grows���. In stark contrast to job patterns under the formerly centrally planned economy, eroded since economic reforms began in the late 1970s, the Economic Daily said on average, three applicants now vied for every job in China�s 78 cities. In booming Shanghai and the central city of Changsha, there are more likely to be four people going for every job, the newspaper said. Unemployment is already growing rapidly and China�s official jobless tally is expected to top 20 million in four year�s time, compared with 6.81 million in 2001, state media said on Monday. ***** |
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