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IV. Protection of Workers' Rights

China attaches great importance to protection of workers' rights. In the
past year the government has made new efforts to safeguard the rights
stipulated by China's Labor Law, such as equal access for employment,
salary, rest and vacations, work safety and health protection, job
training, social security and welfare.

China now has 31,000 employment agencies, 2,716 job service centers, and
more than 2,000 unemployment insurance bodies. And more than 200,000
labor service enterprises have been established throughout the country,
employing more than nine million people. In 1996, about ten million
people found jobs with the help of employment agencies, and the
unemployment rate in cities and towns was around three percent.

To ensure the minimum wage standard for workers, the government has in
recent years issued the Regulations on Minimum Wages for Enterprises, and
a notice on implementing the system to ensure minimum wages, which
clearly stipulate the fixing and adjusting of the minimum standards of
wages, the payment of the wages, and the legal liabilities for those who
violate the regulations. To date, all the provinces, autonomous regions,
and municipalities except Tibet have issued and implemented the lowest
standards for wages in their own areas, thus establishing, by and large,
a minimum-wage guarantee system that complies with China's actual
conditions. Moreover, the government has also promulgated the Provisional
Regulations on Wage Payment and a set of additional regulations to ensure
the workers to get their legitimate payment on time and in full.

To protect workers' safety and health, China has issued the Regulations
Regarding the Implementation of the Mine Safety Law, and the Regulations
Regarding Management of Hidden Causes for Accidents, and increased
funding in the improvement of working conditions. More than 20 million
yuan has been invested each year in upgrading enterprise labor protection
techniques, and in researching and developing new labor protection
products. In the meantime, the government has increased supervision and
management of labor safety by urging enterprises to continuously improve
work conditions to create a safe and hygienic work environment for
laborers. In recent years, the incidence of fatal accidents, especially
major and extraordinarily big accidents, has declined.

The Chinese government puts much emphasis on the development of workers'
job skills and on job training, and vigorously promoted the development
of senior secondary technical training schools. At present, there are
4,467 secondary technical training schools across the country, which
admit more than 700,000 students each year. Meanwhile, social sectors
have been fully mobilized to help train personnel in various fields. In
1996, more than 1.1 million people received training, including 18,000
ex-servicemen who were trained for civil jobs, 169,000 pre-employment
trainees, and 45,000 township enterprises employees.

The social security work is making constant progress. More than 87.5
million workers and 22.5 million retirees have participated in pension
insurance mutual assistance programs. Meanwhile, a mechanism for regular
adjustment of basic pensions has been established nationwide, which has
enabled the basic pension of enterprise retirees to grow for two
consecutive years by 40 to 60 percent of the rate of the salary increase
of local enterprise employees in the previous year, thus helping ensure
the basic livelihood of enterprise retirees. The government has also
promulgated the Provisional Measures on Insurance for Enterprise
Employees Suffering from Industrial Injuries to ensure that workers get
due compensation if hurt in the course of industrial production.

To guarantee the implementation of various laws and regulations that
protect the legal rights and interests of workers, the government has
increased supervision over enforcement of labor laws and regulations of
work units by carrying out various forms of supervisory activities.
According to statistics, labor administration departments at all levels
reviewed 178,000 work units in the first half of 1996, and dealt with
76,834 cases involving the violation of labor laws and regulations. They
also investigated and determined the legal liabilities of the violators,
thereby protecting the legal rights and interests of the workers.

Attaching great importance to the protection of the legal rights and
interests of the elderly, China passed the Law on Protection of the
Rights and Interests of the Elderly in August 1996, which sets clear
stipulations for family support and social security for the elderly,
their participation in social development, and the legal liabilities of
activities that infringe upon their legal rights and interests,
standardizing and legalizing the state protection of this special social
group. According to the law, the state has established a pension
insurance system to ensure the basic livelihood of the elderly, and their
pension and other treatment are protected by laws. The government
increases the pension in line with economic development, improvement in
people's living standards, and rise in workers' salaries; in rural areas,
local economic organizations should provide adequate food and clothing,
housing and medical service, and proper funeral arrangements for the
elderly people who are unable to work, who have neither sources of income
nor family support, or whose family supporters do not have the ability to
support them. In urban areas, local governments should provide relief for
elderly people who are unable to work, have neither sources of income nor
family supporters, or whose family supporters are unable to support them.

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