Modernising China's labour market statistics

This article describes how plans for labour market statistics have changed in China in recent years as the government's requirements have evolved. It describes the EU-funded labour force survey development programme and some key features of the Chinese situation that required particular responses in terms of data collection or analysis. Between 1960 and 2001 employment increased from 259 million to 730 million in China, with particularly large growth since 1989. However, part of this increase is due to a change in sources. The number of registered unemployed among the urban population fell steeply from 5.4 million in 1980 to 2.4 million in 1985, and then increased to 5.8 million in 2000. The registered unemployment rate increased from 2.3% in 1991 to 3.1% in 2000.