Almost a quarter of the population of 11 of China's biggest cities had lost a job in the past two years due to economic reforms, a major survey has revealed.
The 'China in Transition' study released yesterday showed that economic restructuring had resulted in the equivalent of 23 per cent of working-age adults in the 11 cities surveyed losing a job some time in the previous two years.
A further 16 per cent in rural areas had also been put out of work in that time. Less than two-fifths of the laid-off workers in the cities and only half in the rural areas said they had been able to obtain another job.
Millions of workers have been laid off by state-owned enterprises over the past few years as the Government pushes through market reforms to merge or close loss-making firms.
The survey was conducted in June and July by the US-based market research company D3 Systems of Virginia and directed by Hong Kong-based Asia Marketing Research Directions using a Beijing-headquartered field work company.
It covered 1,650 householders, aged 18 to 60, in the 11 cities - which are home to a combined population of 43 million urban dwellers - and 1,500 householders in 10 provinces with a combined rural population of 570 million.
The survey covered cities from north to south, including Shenyang, Harbin and Wuhan, where there have been lay-offs on a massive scale causing Beijing leaders great concern about labour unrest and protests.
