Improving public service for human resources

The Chinese government has gradually increased its input in this area. In 2008 China's investment in human capital accounted for 10.75 percent of its GDP. In 2009 the state treasury spent 198.139 billion yuan on education, an increase of 84.1 percent over 2007; 127.321 billion yuan on medical and health care, an increase of 91.66 percent over 2007; 329.667 billion yuan on employment and social security, an increase of 43.2 percent over 2007; and 151.202 billion yuan on science and technology, an increase of 51.2 percent over 2007.

The government has worked hard to improve the public employment and human resources service system. It has set up integrated service institutions at the county or district level, and service centers and entities providing employment training and entrepreneurship service at the sub-district (township) and community levels, thereby forming a five-level network providing services at the province, city, county or district, sub-district (town and township) and community (administrative village) levels. By the end of 2009 there were over 10,000 public employment and human resources service institutions at or above the county or district level nationwide, and 37,000 service centers at the sub-district, town or township level, covering 97 percent of the country's sub-districts and 89 percent of its towns and townships. The government has improved its functions in public employment and human resources service, providing free services such as policy information, release of supply and demand information of the market, information about job vacancies, vocational guidance, employment assistance and entrepreneurship training, shouldering responsibilities such as employment and unemployment registration and management, and providing such services as social security management, archive management, examination and certification, and specialized services.

The government has made human resources service more IT-based. It has carried out the Golden Social Security Project, and set up an e-government system of labor and social security that covers the whole country and is based on networks at three levels: the central government level, provincial and municipal levels. It provides services such as policy consultation, access to information, handling business-related affairs and personal account checking by issuing social security cards, activating the 12333 public service line and SMS center, and building government service websites.