China has continued to expand employment since the founding of New China, according to the Report on the Economic and Social Development Achievements in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of New China released Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics.
According to the Report, the total employment in China increased from 180 million in 1949 to 780 million in 2018, a 3.3-fold increase. 430 million people were employed in urban areas, a 27.3-fold increase over 1949.
As the scale of employment continued to expand, the employment structure is also constantly optimized. In the early years since the founding of New China, China saw a weak industrial base and service industry. The vast majority of laborers depended on agriculture for a living.
In 1952, 83.5% of the laborers were employed in the primary industry, and 7.4% and 9.1% in the secondary and tertiary industries.
Since the reform and opening up, the tertiary industry replaced the secondary industry and the primary industry in 1994 and 2011 respectively to become the industry with the largest number of laborers. The primary industry became the industry with the smallest proportion of employment in 2014.
In addition, the income from wages has also grown rapidly. Before the reform and opening up, China saw a slow average wage growth. From 1952 to 1978, the average wage of all employees increased from 445 yuan to 615 yuan, an increase of 38.2% and 10.3% only when the price factors are deducted.
Since the reform and opening up, China’s economic development has continued to reach one new level after another. Along with a series of policy measures such as the government's introduction of minimum wage standards, urban workers have seen their average wage grow rapidly.
In 2018, the average wage of the employed persons in non-private units in China's cities and towns reached 82,461 yuan, a 134-fold growth from that of 1978, with an average annual growth rate of 13.0%. After deducting the price factor, the actual increase reached 18.3 times.
(source:ourjiangsu.com)
