Information Office of the State Council

China’sHumanResourcesInformationOfficeoftheStateCouncilThePeople’sRepublicofChinaSeptember2010,BeijingContentsForewordI.TheBasicSituationofChina’sHumanResourcesII.LegalSystemforHumanResourcesDevelopmentIII.TheGovernmentShouldersHumanResourcesPublicManagementandPublicServiceResponsibilityIV.BringingintoPlaytheFundamentalRoleofMarketAllocationV.StrengtheningtheProtectionoftheLegitimateRightsandInterestsofWorkersVI.ActivelyDevelopingInternationalExchangesandCooperationConclusionForewordChinaisadevelopingcountrywiththelargestpopulationintheworld.Its1.3billionpeopleareavastreservoirofhumanresources.Activelydevelopinghumanresources,bringingintofullplaythepo-tentialabilityandvalueofeachindividualandpromotingthepeople’sall-rounddevelopmentsoastoprovidepowerfullaborandintellectualsupportforChina’smodernizationdriveandtorealizeitstransformationfromacountryrichinhumanresourcestoonewithpowerfulhumanresources,isasignificantaimtheChinesegovernmenthasbeencher-ishingandamajorundertakingithasbeenunremittinglyadvancing.SincethefoundingofNewChinain1949,andespeciallysincethereformandopening-uppolicieswereintroducedinthelate1970s,theChinesegovernment,upholdingtheideaofputtingpeoplefirst,hasac-tivelyimplementedtheprincipleofrespectinglabor,knowledge,talentandcreativity,andhasadoptedaseriesofpoliciesandmeasurestoboostemploymentanddevelopeducation,scienceandtechnology,culture,publichealthandsocialsecurity,strivingtocreateafavorableenvironmentandconditionsforthepeople’sall-rounddevelopment.Currently,China’semploymentsituationisstableonthewhole;thepeople’seducationandhealthlevelshavebeenremarkablyimproved;andagalaxyoftalentedpeopleinvariousfieldsurgentlyneededbynationalconstructionhasappeared.Theyareplayinganimportantroleinpromotingthedevelopmentofalleconomicandsocialundertakings.Inaccordancewiththerequirementsofthesocialistmarketecon-omysystem,andtopromotesustainabledevelopmentandsocialhar-mony,theChinesegovernmentpaysattentiontothefundamentalfunctionofthemarketindeployinghumanresources,whilevigorouslypromotinginstitutionalreformsinthefieldsofeconomy,science,technologyandeducation,constantlydeepeningthereformoftheca-drerelatedsystem,andpursuingthestrategyofrejuvenatingthecoun-trythroughscienceandeducationandthatofstrengtheningthenationwithtrainedpersonnel,andaproactiveemploymentpolicy.Ithasalsoestablishedandimprovedthehumanresourcesdevelopmentmecha-nismtotrain,attract,useandsupporttalentedpeople,andacceleratedhumanresourceslegalconstruction,therebyopeningupahumanre-sourcesdevelopmentpathconformingtoChina’snationalconditions.I.TheBasicSituationofChina’sHumanResourcesAlargepopulationandrichhumanresourcesconstitutethebasicnationalsituationofChina.Foryears,theChinesegovernmenthaspursuedproactiveandeffectivepoliciesandmeasurestoenhancethedevelopmentandutilizationofhumanresources,bringingaboutre-markablechangesinthisfield.Humanresourcesgrowinginscale.Bytheendof2009China’stotalpopulationhadreached1.33474billion(excludingthatoftheHongKongandMacaoSpecialAdministrativeRegionsandTaiwanProvince),whichcontainsalaborforceof1.06969billionpersons,112.67millionmorethanin2000;thenumberofemployeeshadreached779.95million,ofwhom311.2millionwereurbanemployees,increasesof59.1millionand79.69million,respectively,comparedwiththeyear2000.Chart1ChangesinLaborForce(2000-2009)(Unit:10,000people)Chart2ChangesintheNumberofEmployeesinUrbanandRuralAreas(2000-2009)(Unit:10,000people)Remarkableimprovementofeducation.Chinagivesprioritytoeducationinitsdevelopmentstrategy,andhasestablishedacom-parativelycompletenationalmoderneducationalsystem.In2000Nine-YearCompulsoryEducationwasmadeuniversalthroughoutthecountry,andilliteracyamongpeoplebetweentheagesof20and50wasbasicallyeliminated.Thenumberofteenagersattendingseniormiddleschoolhasincreasedgreatly;vocationaleducationhasbeenespeciallyenhanced;andhighereducationisbecomingmorepopular.In2009thetotalnumberofseniormiddleschoolstudentsinChinaamountedto24.3428million;studentsatvarioussecondaryvocationalschoolsnumbered21.9516million;undergraduatesstudyingatallsortsofuniversitiesandcollegesnumbered21.4466millionandpostgradu-atestudents1.4049million.Thedevelopmentofnationaleducationhasremarkablyraisedemployees’educationallevel.Bytheendof2009,theaverageschoolingofpeopleabove15yearsoldhadreachednearly8.9years,whilethatofthemajorityoftheworkingpopulationwas9.5years,ofwhich9.9%hadreceivedhighereducation.Theaverageedu-cationtimeofnewlyincreasedlaborforceamountedto12.4years.Chart3ChangesintheNumberofUniversityandCollegeGraduates(2001-2009)(Unit:10,000people)Optimizedemploymentstructure.WithChina’seconomicde-velopmentandindustrialstructureadjustment,theproportionofthoseemployedinprimaryindustryhasdroppedsignificantlywhilethatintertiaryindustryhasrisengreatly.In2009theproportionofemploy-mentinprimary,secondaryandtertiaryindustrieschangedto38.1%,27.8%,and34.1%from50%,22.5%and27.5%,respectivelyin2000.Chart4ChangesintheEmploymentStructureofPrimary,SecondaryandTertiaryIndustries(2000-2009)Goodprogressintalentdevelopment.Peoplehavingprofessiona