I thought that some of you would find this note from China News Digest interesting given recent discussions: (1) Workers to Face Tough Times in State Enterprise Reforms [CND, 10/01/97] Premier LI Peng said in his National Day speech on Tuesday that the re-structuring of China's economy and the on-going reforms in the state sectors had made the re-employment of laid-off workers a challenging task, AFP reported. Li also admitted to his colleagues gathering in the Great Hall of the People that the public order in some areas was "undesirable", which was partially attributable to disaffected workers. Unemployment rate is running between 20 and 30 percent nationwide, officials in the Labour Ministry admitted privately. Mergers, downsizing and bankruptcies which will inevitably emerge as state-owned enterprise reforms move forward are bound to make the problem more severe. (Weijun LIU, Guochen WAN) Joseph E Medley ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Department of Economics University of Southern Maine Portland, ME 04104-9300 (207) 780-4293 fax: (207) 780-5507
