China will face increasing employment pressure next year due to slowed economic growth, decline in export and an increasing number of bankruptcies, a top academic institution says on Monday.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), China's leading academic institution, said in its 2009 blue book that the country's employment would be affected in spite of a planned 4 trillion yuan (US$584.8 billion) stimulus package to boost economy.

The slowed economic growth rate, estimated at eight to nine percent by the academy, would affect the employment rate compared with China's previous double-digit growth rate, according to CASS.

Large economic entities and major importers of China-made products such as the United States and the European Union have been affected by the global economic crisis, and could lead more to more job losses in export-oriented enterprises, it said.

More medium and small-sized enterprises will have to reduce production or go bust as the pay for workers has increased, it said. Lack of capital due to the sharp fall in export would further impact on the employment rate.

According to statistics released by China's National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning body, more than 10,000 medium and small-sized enterprises in the textile sector were eliminated in the first half of the year, and two thirds needed to be restructured.

About 150 million Migrant laborers, a major driving force of China's economy, have been hit hard by the bankruptcy of labor-intensive industries such as textile factories.

Most migrant workers did not register their unemployment after being dismissed, so accurate statistics cannot be reported, said CASS. The recent retreat of migrant workers from coastal provinces is a red flag that more job posts in labor-intensive industries in the well-off coastal provinces have been lost.

The country also faces the difficult task of finding jobs for nearly 6.5 million college graduates next year, said the blue book.

Blue book often refers to an almanac or other collection of statistics and information.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2008)