Vice-Minister Wang Xiaochu of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security gave a speech at the "Assessment Meeting of the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010)" in Beijing on Tuesday. Following are excerpts:

The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010) was an important measure to push forward the country's human rights, implementing the constitutional principle of respecting and safeguarding human rights, and promoting sustainable development and social harmony.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has established a special team to implement the tasks assigned to the ministry in the Action Plan and we have met our goals on schedule.

First, to cope with the global financial crisis, the ministry issued a series of policies intended to stabilize the job market and create new jobs, these included strengthening vocational skills training, and helping college graduates and rural workers to find jobs.

In two years, 22.7 million new jobs were created in urban areas, 26.1 percent higher than the target set by the Action Plan, and 19.39 million farmers found jobs in cities, 7.7 percent higher than the target set by the Action Plan, while the registered urban unemployment rate till the end of last year was kept at 4.1 percent, 0.9 percentage points lower than the plan's 5 percent ceiling.

The ministry also made effective efforts to ensure equal rights between female and male employees and promote employment for people with disabilities.

Second, the ministry made greater efforts to construct harmonious labor relations. By implementing the Labor Contract Law, 97 percent of large enterprises and 65 percent of small firms had signed labor contracts with their employees by the end of last year.

Meanwhile, some 14,000 third-party organs were established across the country to coordinate labor relations. Other measures introduced by the ministry to guarantee workers' rights include the minimum wage system, wage monitoring system and special protective terms for female workers.

Third, the ministry helped improve social security policies. At the end of last year, the basic old-age pension covered 257 million people across the country, medical insurance covered 432 million, unemployment insurance 134 million, industrial injury insurance 162 million and child-bearing insurance 123 million, all ahead of schedule.

In rural areas, the system of rural society endowment insurance launched in 2009 now covers 140 million people, while some 830 million people in rural areas joined the cooperative medical system.