Communist leader urges no layoffs

BEIJING, March 3 (UPI) -- A leading Chinese political official Tuesday urged private industry not to lay off workers amid the global economic crisis.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made his plea in a report delivered to the CPPCC National Committee, which convened Tuesday in Beijing, Xinhua reported.

"Advisers should try their best to refrain from laying off any employees, cutting salaries or withholding wages, so as to create a harmonious labor relationship," Jia was quoted by the state-run news service as saying.

Xinhua noted that a report issued in January by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security showed that China's urban unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent at the end of 2008, up 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.

Wang Junjin, chairman of the Shanghai-based Junyao group, said people ought to help each other through the crisis.

"Employers should nurture good relations with employees. They must also take up greater social responsibility," Wang said.

Jia also said 2009 will be crucial in determining how to properly respond to the financial crisis, as well as for promoting the development of the Communist Party and the Chinese nation, Xinhua reported.