Regulations to protect Chinese workers abroad from east China's Jiangsu Province are to be enacted by the end of this year, according to the Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of the province.

The new rules are currently being drafted, and suggestions from related sectors are being collected, Tuesday's China Daily reported, citing a senior bureau official Xia Wangsheng as saying.

The issuance of such an emergency and response regulation is necessary as Jiangsu has sent a large number of workers to foreign countries in recent years, and the number of labor disputes and emergencies involving people from the province is relatively higher compared with other provinces, according to Xia.

The official said that illegal overseas labor service agencies and unexpected disasters are the two main causes for overseas labor disputes and emergencies.

The new regulations will focus on strengthening control on the overseas labor service market and regulating procedures that deal with overseas labor emergencies.

According to Xia, his bureau will cooperate with related public security, industrial and commercial administration, social security and foreign affairs departments to handle the problems.

Xia revealed that the new regulations would follow the guideline that once the workers are involved in overseas labor disputes, those agencies that have signed the contracts should be responsible for helping them.

Official statistics showed 100,280 residents from the province worked in about 140 foreign countries scattered mainly in the countries and regions of Asia and Africa, and some developed European and North American countries in 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2006)