6. We worked hard to increase employment and improve social security work. We continued to improve and implement policies on employment and reemployment, and the central government allocated 23.4 billion yuan for employment and reemployment efforts. We created jobs through a variety of channels, stepped up vocational and technical training, provided support and assistance to zero-employment households and people who have difficulty finding employment, and helped 5.05 million laid-off workers find new jobs. The goal set out in 2004 to basically solve the longstanding problems of defaults on payment to construction companies and unpaid wages for rural migrant workers in the construction industry within three years was basically met. A total of 183.4 billion yuan has been paid to construction companies, paying off 98.6% of the total amount owed to them. This payment included 33 billion yuan in overdue wages for rural migrant workers.

The social safety net was strengthened. Trials to fully fund personal accounts for basic old-age insurance of enterprise employees were expanded to eight more province-level localities on the basis of the pilot project in the three provinces in northeast China. After years of effort, the work of incorporating basic cost of living allowances for workers laid off from SOEs into the unemployment insurance system has been basically completed. Basic pension benefits for retired enterprise employees were increased. The coverage of the social security system was further expanded, revenue from social security premiums increased, and oversight and management of social security funds was strengthened. The basic framework of a social assistance system for both urban and rural residents was set up, and charity programs continued to grow. The central government spent 13.6 billion yuan on basic cost of living allowances for urban residents, 2.4 billion yuan more than the previous year, and local governments also increased their spending on these allowances to varying degrees. A system of basic cost of living allowances for rural residents was initiated in 2,133 counties, county-level cities and city districts in 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, benefiting 15.09 million residents. Funding for providing food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses for childless and infirm rural residents now mainly comes from the government budget instead of depending on rural collectives. Assistance for orphans and protection for homeless juveniles were strengthened. Allowances for all types of entitled groups were increased significantly, with an 11.2 billion yuan allocation from the central government budget, a 47% increase from the previous year. We improved the policy for compensating people whose land has been expropriated to build large or medium-sized reservoirs and for assisting people displaced for reservoir projects, benefiting 22.88 million persons. This longstanding problem is now being gradually solved.

Last year, some areas in China were hit by natural disasters of a severity seldom seen in history, including typhoons and droughts. We promptly took steps to carry out disaster relief work and rebuild disaster-hit areas. The central government raised some disaster relief allowances and allocated 11.2 billion yuan in relief funds to help disaster victims get back on their feet.