Chinese labor unions have made great contributions to ease the country's employment pressures during the global economic crisis, a senior trade union official said Tuesday.

Efforts have been made to protect employees and avoid massive lay-offs since the worst global financial crisis in decades hit China, according to Zhang Mingqi, vice chairman of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU).

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, now meeting in Beijing.

According to Zhang, the ACFTU has launched a nationwide "Joint Commitment Action" between enterprises and employers, pledging no lay-offs or pay cuts during the crisis.

So far, the program has involved 630,000 enterprises and covered more than 80 million workers, he said.

Also, the ACFTU has spent more than 1 billion yuan (US$146.4 million) to provide vocational training, entrepreneurial education, and rights protection services for more than 13 million migrant workers last year, he added.

The union has also claimed 990 million yuan of back pay for more than 410,000 migrant workers since the end of last year, Zhang said.

China created 11.02 million new jobs in urban areas in 2009, while the country's urban unemployment rate stood at 4.3 percent, with 9.21 million people registered as unemployed.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2010)