Table 1
Urban Employment Reconciliation

 

 

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

Urban formal employment (million)

 

 

 

 

 

State sector

112.44

110.44

90.58

85.72

81.02

Urban Collective

30.16

28.83

19.63

17.12

14.99

Cooperatives

n.a.

n.a.

1.36

1.44

1.55

Joint ownership

0.49

0.43

0.48

0.46

0.42

Limited liability corp.

n.a.

n.a.

4.84

6.03

6.87

Shareholding

3.63

4.68

4.1

4.2

4.57

Private firms

6.2

7.5

9.73

10.53

12.68

Funded from HK, Macao, Taiwan

2.65

2.81

2.94

3.06

3.1

Foreign funding

2.75

3

2.93

3.06

3.32

Self-employed individuals

17.09

19.19

22.59

24.14

21.36

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sum of components (A)

175.41

176.88

159.18

155.76

149.88

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urban employed persons (B)

198.15

202.07

206.78

210.14

212.74

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unexplained residual (=B-A)

 

 

 

 

 

     Million workers

22.74

25.19

47.60

54.38

62.86

     % of urban employed

11.5

12.5

23.0

25.9

29.5

 

Source: Yearbook 2001, p. 107.

 

Note: The residual arises because total urban employment is adjusted using “data obtained from the sample surveys

  on population changes” (ibid).

 

 

 


Table 2

Population and Labor Force

 

POPULATION FIGURES

 

LABOR FORCE

 

Year-end

Annual

 

 

Aggregate Data

Annual

Annual

Percent Annual

Year

Population

Increment

RNI

 

Economic

Employed

Increment

Increment

Increase

 

million

million

percent

 

Active

 

million

million

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Series A]

[Series B]

[Series A]

[Series B]

[Series A]

[Series B]

1980

987.0

 

1.50

 

 

423.6

 

13.4

 

3.3

1985

1058.5

 

 

 

 

498.7

 

16.7

 

3.9

1990

1143.3

 

1.58

 

 

639.1

 

85.8*

 

15.5

1991

1158.2

14.9

1.40

 

 

648.0

 

8.9

 

1.4

1992

1171.7

13.5

1.22

 

 

655.5

 

7.5

 

1.2

1993

1185.2

13.5

1.22

 

609.6

663.7

 

8.2

 

1.3

1994

1198.5

13.3

1.20

 

687.7*

672.0

78.1*

8.3

12.8

1.3

1995

1211.2

12.7

1.11

 

696.6

679.5

8.9

7.5

1.3

1.1

1996

1223.9

12.7

1.11

 

696.6*

688.5

0.0*

9.0

0.0

1.3

1997

1236.3

12.4

1.05

 

705.8

696.0

9.2

7.5

1.3

1.1

1998

1248.1

11.8

1.00

 

714.1

699.6

8.3

3.6

1.2

0.5

1999

1259.1

11.0

0.92

 

719.8

705.9

5.7

6.3

0.8

0.9

2000

1265.8

6.7

0.53

 

 

711.5

 

5.6

 

0.8

 

 

*indicates obvious breaks in data series presumably caused by changes in concept or method.

 

Source:  Population and RNI from Yearbook 2001, p. 91; RNI for 2000 calculated from population figures.

 

Economically active: Labor 2000, p. 3; Labor 1998, p. 3; Labor 1996, p. 3; 1994, p. 7.

 

Employed: Labor 2000, p. 8; figure for 2000 from Yearbook 2001, p. 107

 

 


Table 3

Basic Data on Population and Employment, 1980-2000

(Million persons and percent)

 

Category

1980

1990

2000

Average growth

1980/90       1990/00

1. Population

987.0

1143.3

1265.8

1.5

1.0

2. Increase (%)

1.19

1.44

0.53

 

 

3. Labor force

423.6

639.1

711.5

3.0*

1.1

4. Urban formal

     employees

104.4

140.6

146.6

3.0

0.4

5. Labor force composition

 

 

 

 

 

  5A. Primary

291.2

384.3

355.8

2.8

-0.8

  5B. Secondary

77.1

136.5

160.1

5.9

1.6

  5C. Tertiary

55.3

118.3

195.7

7.9

5.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shares (%)

 

 

 

 

 

Participation rate

42.9

55.9

56.2

 

 

Female workers#

35.3

37.6

39.2

 

 

Primary

68.7

60.1

50.0

 

 

Secondary

18.2

21.4

22.5

 

 

Tertiary

13.1

18.5

27.5

 

 

 

*based on growth during 1980/89.  The series rises by an improbable figure of 87 million workers during 1989/90, presumably reflecting adjustments based on the 1990 population census (see Labor 2000, p. 9).

 

# proportion of female workers in units under state, urban collective, or “other” ownership.  These figures exclude domestic private enterprises and self-employed individuals.

 

Sources: Except as noted, data for 1980 and 1990 from Rawski 1999.  Data for 2000 are from Yearbook 2001, pp. 91, 107, from Table 1 (RNI for 2000; urban formal employment).  Data on female employment are from Labor 2000, p. 15 and Labor 1995, p. 26.


Table 4

Trends in Formal Employment, 1980-2000

(million workers)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Percent Annual Increase

Year

State

Collective

Other

Urban

Urban

TVE

Rural

Total

Urban

National

 

 

 

 

Private

Total

 

Private

 

Total

Total

1980

80.2

24.3

0.0

0.8

105.3

30.0

5.0*

140.3

 

 

1985

89.9

33.2

0.4

4.5

128.0

69.8

10.0*

207.8

 

 

1990

103.5

35.5

1.6

6.7

147.3

92.7

16.0

256.0

 

 

1991

106.6

36.3

2.2

7.6

152.7

96.1

17.3

266.1

3.7

3.9

1992

108.9

36.2

2.8

8.4

156.3

106.2

18.6

281.2

2.4

5.7

1993

109.2

33.9

5.4

11.2

159.7

123.5

22.0

305.1

2.1

8.5

1994

108.9

32.1

7.5

15.6

164.1

120.2

28.7

312.9

2.8

2.6

1995

109.6

30.8

8.8

20.5

169.5

128.6

35.3

333.4

3.3

6.6

1996

109.5

29.5

9.4

23.3

171.7

135.1

38.6

345.4

1.3

3.6

1997

107.7

28.2

10.9

26.7

173.4

91.6

41.2

306.2

1.0

-11.4

1998

88.1

19.0

16.3

32.3

155.7

125.4

45.9

327.0

-10.2

6.8

1999

83.4

16.5

17.9

34.7

152.4

127.0

48.0

327.4

-2.1

0.1

2000

78.8

14.5

19.3

34.0

146.6

128.0**

40.7

314.4

-3.8

-4.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annual growth (percent)

1980/90

2.5

3.8

n.a.

21.1

3.4

11.3

11.7

6.0

 

 

1990/00

-2.7

-9.0

24.7

16.3

0.0

3.2

9.3

2.1

 

 

 

Sources:

Urban data: Yearbook 2001, pp. 118, 120, 122, 131; Labor 2000, p. 14. TVE data: Labor 2000, p. 404. Rural private sector employment is the difference between

national and urban totals See Yearbook 2001, pp. 130-131.

 

Notes: Urban and rural private sector employment includes both private enterprises and self-employed individuals.

 

  *Zhao Huanxin 2002.

 

**author’s guess regarding official figure.


Table 5

Patterns of Labor Absorption, 1980-2000

(million workers)

 

 

1980/90

1990/95

1995/2000

Labor force increment

215.5

40.4

32.0

 

 

 

 

Formal Sector Labor Absorption

 

 

 

  Urban

 

 

 

     State-owned Enterprises

23.3

6.1

-30.7

     Urban Collectives

11.2

-4.7

-16.3

     Other ownership

1.6

7.2

10.5

     Urban Private

5.9

13.8

13.5

 Rural

 

 

 

     Township-Village Enterprises

62.7

35.9

-1.6

     Rural private

11.0

19.3

5.4

 

 

 

 

Formal Sector Total

115.7

77.6

-19.2

   Of which:

 

 

 

        Urban

42.0

22.4

-23.0

         Rural

73.7

55.2

3.8

 

 

 

 

Informal Sector*

99.8

-37.2

51.2

 

 

 

 

Annual Averages

 

 

 

  Labor Force Increment

21.6

8.1

6.4

  Formal Sector Labor Absorption

11.6

15.5

-3.8

  Informal Sector Labor Absorption

10.0

-7.4

10.2

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

*Residual, including unemployment and under-employment.

 

Source: Rawski 1999; Tables 2 and 4 above.


Table 6

Estimates of Numbers of Workers Furloughed, 1993-2001

(millions)

 

Year

New Layoffs

Cumulative Total of Layoffs

1993

3.00*

3.00*

 

 

 

1994

0.60*

3.60*

 

 

 

1995

2.04*

5.64*

 

 

 

1996

2.26*

8.91*

 

 

 

1997

4.0** – 5.1#

11.51*; 14#

 

 

 

1998

7.4+

16.0♦

 

 

 

1999

7.8++

 

 

 

 

2000

6.5♦♦

 

 

 

*Taken or calculated from Ma 1999, p. 84.

 

** Measures 1999, p. 4

 

# Yang Yixiong 1998, p.  221

 

♦ internet documents provided by Zhang Wenkui.

 

+ Labor 1999, p. 441; 76 percent of newly laid-off workers came from the state sector.

 

++ Labor 2000, p. 409; 79 percent of newly laid-off workers came from the state sector.

 

♦♦ Zhang Liqun 2001, p. 26  (state sector only).


Table 7

Official and Alternate Rates of Urban Unemployment

(unemployment as percent of registered urban population)

 

Year

Number of Registered

Unemployed (Millions)

Official Unemployment Rate

Alternate Unemployment Rate

1985

2.4

1.8

n.a.

1990

3.8

2.5

n.a.

1993

4.2

2.3

3.3-3.7

1994

4.8

2.6

3.6-4.1

1995

5.2

2.9

4.0-4.7

1996

5.5

3.0

4.9-5.9

1997

5.7

3.1

5.6-6.9

1998

5.9

3.1

7-8

1999

6.2

3.1

8-9

2000

 

3.1

8.3

 

Sources: Registered unemployed from Labor 1987, p. 109; Labor 1991, p. 131; and Hu 1998, p. 106. 

 

Official unemployment rate from Labor 1995, p. 8; Yearbook 1999, p. 133; Yearbook 2000, p. 33; and Yearbook 2001, p. 33.

 

Alternate data for 1993-1999 are estimates of actual urban unemployment.  In each case, the lower (higher) figure is calculated on the assumption that 60% (or 40%) of laid-off workers succeed in obtaining new employment.  See Hu, 1998, p. 106.   The alternate rate for 2000 is from Hu 2001, Appendix Table 2.


Table 8

Nominal and Real Wages for Urban Formal Employees and TVE Workers

 

 

Nominal Wages, Annual Figures

 

 

Real Wages, Annual Percent Increase

Year

All Staff

State

Urban

Other

TVE

 

All Staff

State

Urban

Other

 

& Workers

Collective

Ownership

Workers

 

& Workers              Sector

Collective

Ownership

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1980

762

803

623

n.a.

398

 

6.1

6.0

6.9

n.a.

1985

1148

1213

967

1436

 

 

5.3

4.8

6.6

22.5

1990

2140

2284

1681

2987

676

 

9.2

9.7

6.6

8.9

1991

2340

2477

1866

3468

 

 

4.0

3.2

5.5

10.5

1992

2711

2878

2109

3966

 

 

6.7

7.0

1.6

5.3

1993

3371

3532

2592

4966

 

 

7.1

5.7

-2.1

7.9

1994

4538

4797

6245

6303

 

 

7.7

8.7

-6.1

1.5

1995

5500

5625

3931

7463

3618

 

3.8

0.4

6.6

1.4

1996

6210

6280

4302

8261

4195

 

3.8

2.6

5.6

1.7

1997

6470

6747

4512

8789

 

 

1.1

4.2

4.1

3.2

1998

7479

7668

5331

8972

 

 

7.2

6.7

5.9

-1.7

1999

8346

8543

5774

9829

5193

 

13.1

12.9

0.2

11.0

2000

9371

9552

6262

10984

5507

 

11.4

10.9

3.7

10.9

 

Sources:  urban nominal and real wages: Yearbook 2001, p. 135; TVE nominal wages 1980-1986: Rawski 1999, p. 10.

 

TVE wages for 1999: “Influence of TVE Development on the Growth of Farm Incomes,” Chinese-language document consulted 12 December 2001 at

http://www.agri.ac.cn/agri_net/02/2-11/0141.htm

 

TVE wages for 2000: “Overview of  TVE Development Under the 9th Five-Year Plan,” Chinese-language document consulted 12 December 2001 at

http://www.cte.gov.cn/zw/tjxx/readxx.asp?idd=26

 

 


Table 9

Changes in Nominal Wages for Staff and Workers (zhigong),

October 1997 to October 1998

 

 

Percent Change

 

 

Percent Change

Fourteen Cities

 

 

Major Economic Sectors

 

 Beijing

4.0

 

 Farming, Fishing, Forestry

-19.6

 Tianjin

3.3

 

 Extractive

5.0

 Shanghai

-1.7

 

 Manufacturing

1.8

 Fuzhou

10.2

 

 Geology & Water Conservancy

-22.1

 Chongqing

6.1

 

 Transport & Communication

5.1

 Shenzhen

5.4

 

 Wholesale & Retail Trade

1.2

 Xi’an

8.7

 

 Finance

5.1

 Chengdu

4.1

 

 Real Estate

17.7

 Harbin

5.5

 

 Education

9.1

 Jinan

-1.1

 

 Science & Technology

8.4

 Wuxi

5.9

 

 Govt., Party & Social Orgs.

7.8

 Huangshi

4.7

 

 

 

 Chinhuangdao

0.5

 

Manufacturing - Selected Branches

 

 Foshan

1.7

 

 Textiles

-3.7

 

 

 

 Garments

-9.4

Education Levels

 

 

 Lumber processing

7.7

 Post-secondary education

6.3

 

 Chemicals

6.3

 High school and equivalent

3.3

 

 Ferrous metallurgy

-1.4

 Middle school and below

1.9

 

 Metal products

-3.5

 

 

 

 Machinery

2.5

 

 

 

 Transport equipment

0.4

 

 

 

 Electrical machinery

3.7

 

 

 

 Electric power

5.7

 

Source: Chen Gang et al 1999, pp. 3, 42-46.

 


Table 10

Information on 1997 Labor Costs Under Different Ownership Groupings

for Selected Manufacturing Sectors in 14 Large Cities

 

 

 

Per Yuan of Labor Cost

 

 

Labor

 

 

 

Labor share

Category

Cost per

Value

Sales

Profit

in Total

 

Worker

Added

Revenue

 

Cost

Overall

9645.3

2.3

9.0

0.2

12.5

 State

9264.0

2.0

7.7

0.1

14.5

 Collective

5890.8

2.1

8.4

0.0

12.5

 Other

14405.5

3.3

13.3

0.6

8.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food processing

7119.0

2.9

22.7

0.1

4.8

 State

6436.6

1.9

16.0

-0.2

6.7

 Collective

5897.1

3.4

16.5

0.6

6.8

 Other

14111.7

6.6

51.8

1.0

2.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garments

7379.9

2.1

8.4

0.2

11.9

 State

6998.8

2.1

7.3

0.2

10.9

 Collective

6024.9

1.5

5.2

0.1

18.2

 Other

9170.5

2.6

11.3

0.3

10.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pharmaceutical

10100.0

2.5

8.5

0.5

12.6

 State

9171.9

2.3

7.8

0.3

13.3

 Collective

8839.0

1.9

9.9

0.2

10.7

 Other

13819.0

3.1

9.7

0.9

11.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plastics

8612.1

2.1

9.5

0.1

11.4

 State

8772.9

1.6

6.9

-0.1

15.0

 Collective

5702.1

2.7

8.8

0.0

11.0

 Other

11171.8

2.3

12.1

0.3

9.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

Specialized Equipment

10300.4

1.3

5.5

0.0

19.5

 State

10208.7

1.1

5.0

0.0

21.6

 Collective

6220.5

1.8

5.4

0.0

19.6

 Other

15933.1

1.7

8.3

0.2

12.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transport Equipment

11707.9

2.7

8.9

0.2

12.3

 State

11497.5

1.7

7.3

0.0

11.9

 Collective

5943.9

2.2

11.5

0.2

14.2

 Other

16951.0

7.2

15.5

0.9

9.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electronics & Telecom. Equip.

9507.5

3.0

15.3

0.6

9.0

 State

7433.0

2.3

12.8

0.1

13.8

 Collective

7692.6

1.1

3.9

-0.2

23.7

 Other

17863.2

4.3

20.9

1.6

5.6

 

Source: Chen Gang et al 1999, pp. 76-78.


Table 11

Information on 1997 Labor Costs For Manufacturing

By Region for 14 Large Cities

 

 

Labor

Per Yuan of Labor Cost

Labor share

 

Cost per

Value

Sales

Profit

in Total

 

Worker

Added

Revenue

 

Cost

Overall

9645.3

2.3

9

0.2

12.5

 East

11218.4

2.4

9.4

0.3

11.4

 Central

7630.1

2

9.1

0.1

15.3

 West

6143.8

1.8

6.1

0

18.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garments

7379.9

2.1

8.4

0.2

11.9

 East

7926.9

2

8.2

0.1

11.9

 Central

5914.3

3

10.6

0.7

10.5

 West

2657.6

1.4

5.1

-0.7

19.7

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transport Equip.

13819

3.1

9.7

0.9

11.5

 East

15443.4

3.2

10.3

1

10.7

 Central

7161.2

6.1

12.6

1.7

10.4

 West

9317.2

1.2

3.2

0.5

41.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elect. Mach & Equip.

11036.9

2.8

11.5

0.2

11.2

 East

12416

3

12.2

0.3

10.7

 Central

6617.9

1.3

4.9

-0.2

20.3

 West

3291.8

1.3

5.3

-0.3

18.9

 

Source: Chen Gang et al 1999, pp. 121-123.

 


Table 12

Men's and Women's Wages, 14 Large Cities, October 1998

 

Sector

Monthly Wages For

 

Index of Women's

 

Men

Women

 

Wage

 

 

 

 

(Men=100)

Overall

953.9

805.2

 

84.4

Extractive

562.5

422.4

 

75.1

Textiles

616.2

633.2

 

102.8

Garments

680.2

539.8

 

79.4

Paper

1380.7

1134.4

 

82.2

Printing

1213.5

820.0

 

67.6

Chemicals

864.3

819.0

 

94.8

Ferrous metallurgy

1036.9

567.0

 

54.7

Metal products

897.8

739.2

 

82.3

Machinery

804.3

677.2

 

84.2

Electrical machinery

997.1

673.0

 

67.5

Electric power

1579.4

832.6

 

52.7

Construction

896.3

691.8

 

77.2

Post and telecommunications

1429.0

1085.2

 

75.9

Retail sales

761.4

685.3

 

90.0

Food & drink

1054.7

788.3

 

74.7

Finance

1957.7

1332.4

 

68.1

Hotel

1089.3

721.9

 

66.3

Health

914.5

833.9

 

91.2

Education

866.5

867.4

 

100.1

 

 

 

 

 

Summary data for sectoral wages

 

 

 

 

Standard deviation

351.3

215.6

 

13.8

 

 

 

 

 

Coefficient of variation

0.4

0.3

 

0.2

 

Source: Chen Gang et al 1999, pp. 48-53.


 

Table 13

Growth of Real GDP per Person, 1980-2000

(1990 = 100)

 

 

Year

Index of Real GDP per Person

1980

47.6

1990

100.0

1991

107.7

1992

121.5

1993

136.4

1994

151.9

1995

166.0

1996

180.0

1997

194.0

1998

207.1*

1999

219.9*

2000

235.4*

2001

251.1*

 

 

Average annual growth of real GDP per person

 

     1980-90

7.4

     1990-97

9.5

 

 

* Official estimates of GDP growth for these years are believed to contain large overstatements.

 

Source: Yearbook 2001, p. 52.  I obtain the figure for 2001 by using the officially estimated 7.3 percent real GDP growth for 2000/01 (Xu Binglan 2002, p. 1) and applying  the rate of population growth reported for 1999/2000 (see Table 2).


Table 14

Output per Man-Year in Chinese Industry

(Gross value, thousands of yuan at 1990 prices)

 

Period

Gross Output per Man-Year

 

 

A. State enterprises

 

     1988

34.96

     1992

40.18

     1996

56.45

 

 

B. Collective enterprises

 

     1988

18.34

     1992

24.86

     1996

52.76

 

 

C. Enterprises under Other Ownership

 

    C1. Other domestic enterprises*

 

     1988

36.85

     1992

44.05

     1996

66.57

 

 

   C2. Foreign-invested enterprises

 

     1988

83.97

     1992

86.55

     1996

124.53

 

 

    C3. Shareholding enterprises

 

     1993

71.46

     1996

78.85

 

* category consists primarily of domestic private firms.

 

Source: Jefferson et al 2000, pp. 794-795.