Press Briefing On the Development of Our Province’s Labor and Social Security

[14:19:58, December 26, 2008] The press briefing was chaired by Zhang Dekuan, deputy secretary-general of Shandong Provincial People’s Government and spokesman of Shandong Provincial People’s Government.

[14:33:36, December 26, 2008] Zhang Dekuan: Good afternoon, media friends, ladies and gentlemen.

[14:34:45, December 26, 2008] Zhang Dekuan: Today, we hold a provincial government press briefing and have invited Mr. Cao Keyuan, deputy director and spokesman of the Provincial Department of Labor and Social Security, to give a briefing on the development of our province’s labor and social security in the 30 years of reform and opening-up.

[14:35:12, December 26, 2008] Zhang Dekuan: Next, we have Mr. Cao Keyuan give a briefing on the development of our province’s labor and social security in the 30 years of reform and opening-up.

[14:35:24, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Good afternoon, media friends, ladies and gentlemen.

[14:35:36, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: The 30 years of reform and opening-up is the 30 years when labor and social security was reformed with the greatest strength, development was most rapid, and the masses of people benefited the most. It was an important period when a framework for market-oriented employment mechanism and social security system was basically established. The major achievements our province made in labor and social security can be summed up as follows.

[14:36:56, December 26, 2008] Cao Yuan: The first is the basic establishment of a market-oriented employment system and mechanism, by which means the basic stability of the employment situation in urban and rural areas across the province is maintained.

[14:37:29, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: First, a market-oriented employment system and mechanism has basically been established. The reform of employment system was deepened, realizing the fundamental change from government-controlled employment system in the early stage of the reform and opening-up to market-oriented employment system, in which workers are free to choose their own jobs, market adjusts employment, and the government promotes employment.

[14:39:55, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Second, policy-supported employment is maintained. Since 2002, our province has issued a series of policy measures, and the active employment policies have been implemented. By November 2008, our province had issued 1,212,000 Preferential Re-employment Certificates to laid-off workers, and 6,352,000 person-times had received a variety of preferential policy support, with a variety of tax and fee deductions and exemptions of 2,380,000,000 yuan and microcredit loans of 1,440,000,000 yuan.

[14:42:18, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Third, the scale of employment has been expanded constantly, and employment structure has been optimized continuously. Since reform and opening-up, the scale of employment in our province’s urban and rural areas has displayed a yearly-increase tendency. The newly employed workers in urban areas and the labor transferred in rural areas both exceeded one million in five consecutive years. The employment structure has continuously been optimized, and the proportion of employment in the secondary and tertiary industries has increased steadily.

[14:43:33, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Fourth, the construction of the team of skilled personnel has made significant progress. Vocational skill training and business training were carried out vigorously in order to promote employment by training and strive to improve the worker’s competitiveness and ability to create his own business. In recent years, 230,000 people were organized to be trained for re-employment and for their business, and 780,000 people were trained for transfer of rural labor force each year in our province.

[14:46:02, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Fifth, public employment service system for urban and rural workers has been basically established. In the vast majority of neighborhoods, towns, and communities, working platforms for labor and social security have been set up, and an employment service system has basically taken shape, with the city as the center covering both urban and rural areas.

[14:46:21, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: The second is the realization of a major change from "unit security" to the social security, and the framework for social security system has basically been established.
 
[14:46:53, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: First, the framework for social security system has basically been established. Social security system started from scratch. We began to explore social security system in the mid-1980s, and have established insurance systems of urban workers’ basic old-age pension, basic medical care, unemployment, industrial injury, and maternity insurance.

[14:50:29, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Second, social insurance coverage has constantly expanded. By November 2008, our province’s basic old-age insurance for urban workers, medical insurance, unemployment insurance, industrial injury insurance, and maternity insurance involve 12,511,000, 12,573,000, 8,633,000, 8,548,000, and 6,308,000 people respectively.

[14:51:16, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Third, the level of social security has constantly been raised. The income of our province’s social insurance funds has been growing steadily as a result of extending the range of premium collection and cleaning up corporate arrears, so that the level of social security has been raised gradually.

[14:54:20, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Fourth, the "two guarantees" (namely guaranteeing the full and timely payoff of the basic living expenses to the laid-off workers of state-owned enterprises and pensions for retirees from enterprises) have achieved a historic success.

[14:54:27, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: The third is that enterprise distribution system has been perfected and labor relations have remained stable as a whole.

[December 26, 2008 14:56:06] Cao Yuan: First, a major reform of the egalitarian distribution policy featuring “the big pot” has been carried out, the competition mechanism has been introduced, and distribution has become market-oriented.

[14:56:36, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: Second, workers’ rights and interests have been protected with greater strength, and labor relations have remained stable in general.

[15:00:03, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: At present, we have entered a new historical period of constructing a well-off society in an all-round way. On the basis of conscientiously summing up the 30 years’ experience of labor and social security reform, we must adapt to the demands of the new situation, continue to forge ahead, and do a better job in the work of labor and social security.

[15:00:09, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: The first is to realize a greater social employment.

[15:01:33, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: The second is to continue to improve social security system.

[15:02:18, December 26, 2008] Cao Keyuan: The third is to try to build harmonious labor relations.

[15:06:36, December 26, 2008] Zhang Dekuan: Today’s press briefing is over. Thank you.