China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security is making employment stability its top priority in response to the global economic downturn. Minister Yin Weimin made the announcement this morning during a press conference in Beijing.

Yin Weimin said the country has created over 10 million jobs in the first 10 months of this year, and helped another 4-and-a-half million laid-off workers get re-employed.

He said the urban unemployment rate during the period held steady at four percent, the same as at the end of last year.

But Yin Weimin noted that one of the ministry's top concerns is the ripple effect of the global economic malaise. It has forced increasing numbers of small and medium-sized enterprises to close and caused job losses, especially after October.

He said the government is taking measures to maintain employment stability.

Yin Weimin said, "The current employment situation is tough, and the effect of the global economic downturn is continuing to develop in China. We are now helping enterprises in difficulty cope with it and reduce their unemployment. We are also asking those companies to strictly abide by the Labor Contract Law in dealing with employment issues."

The minister also told reporters that there have been no large-scale job cuts in China so far.

But he noted an increasing number of migrant workers are returning home following the global economic downturn.

Yin said the ministry is asking the authorities concerned to provide migrant workers with training and job information to help maintain stable employment.

His ministry is also asking local departments to ensure the legal interests of migrant workers.

The vice minister, Zhang Xiaojian, expressed strong confidence to achieve this year's goal of keeping unemployment below 4-and-a-half percent.

He's also confident they'll create more jobs next year, and credits help from the government stimulus package to boost domestic consumption and effective measures to rein in unemployment.

(CCTV November 21, 2008)