BEIJING-U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao outlined the Accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) delegations' four-day trip to China today in a joint press conference with U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans.

The news conference was held at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel.

Secretary Chao's trip included the signing of four letters of understanding between the U.S. Department of Labor and The People's Republic of China (PRC) that broaden cooperation between the two countries in the areas of labor, employment rights, workplace safety, and help promote internationally recognized core labor standards in China. During the four-day trip, discussions were also conducted about The Rule of Law Project and a mine health and safety project.

"The agreements signed on this trip are the next step in the Labor Department's ongoing efforts to work with China to promote internationally recognized core labor standards," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "These agreements will help Chinese officials develop the institutional capacity to improve working conditions and raise standards of living for Chinese workers. They address improvements in the areas of worker safety and health along with the regulation and enforcement of wage and pension laws, and the rule of law. In addition, today I am announcing that the Labor Department will direct $3.5 million to China to help combat HIV/AIDS through workplace-related education programs this year."

Secretary Chao is the first U.S. Secretary of Labor to visit the People's Republic of China since 1988 and only the third U.S. Secretary of Labor to visit China in history. Underscoring the importance that the U.S. delegation places on working with the People's Republic of China on Labor issues, the Secretary's delegation included the Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards Victoria A. Lipnic; Ann L. Combs, Assistant Secretary of the Employment Benefits Administration; Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health David D. Lauriski; and John L. Henshaw, Assistant Secretary for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The Secretary and the U.S. Department of Labor delegation also toured a U.S. manufacturing plant, Beijing Johnson Controls Inc., operating in China. Secretary Chao noted that jobs are being created in the United States when American products and services are used for the vast Chinese markets. The Secretary's delegation also toured a women's migrant training facility and visited Langfang Children's village, an American-funded orphanage that serves special-needs children.

In the first two letters of understanding, Ann L. Combs, Assistant Secretary Employee Benefits Administration, and Victoria A. Lipnic, Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards, U.S. DOL, signed with Liu Xu, Director General for International Affairs at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MOLSS), PRC. The letters of understanding establish a framework for the two countries to discuss the regulation, administration and oversight of pension programs through mutually agreed cooperative activities. Also outlined are additional activities in the area of wage and hour law administration. The agencies intend to broaden their cooperation in the areas of wage and hour regulations and enforcement, compliance assistance and public awareness of wage and hour laws, and effective management and analysis of wage and hour enforcement data.

The third and fourth letters of understanding will focus on new joint cooperation in the areas of occupational safety and mine safety and health. Signing for the U.S. Department of Labor was John Henshaw, Assistant Secretary for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Dave D. Lauriski, Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health. Signing for the People's Republic of China was Lin Yisheng, Deputy Director General for Department of Foreign Affairs, in the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS). In the area of occupational safety and health, the letter of understanding outlines new cooperative efforts between the two countries including: regulation and inspection relating to the handling and distribution of hazardous chemicals; emergency response procedures in workplace accidents; private insurance programs in the promotion of workplace safety and health; and effective collection and analysis of occupational safety and health data. The fourth letter of understanding highlights mine safety issues, including: emergency response procedures for mine accidents and incidents and the effective collection and analysis of mine safety and health data.

The agreements broaden the ongoing cooperation between the U.S. DOL and its counterparts in the PRC MOLSS and SAWS. Through these agreements, there will be an exchange of officials, experts and information. The agencies reaffirmed their common objectives-as stated in previous agreements-to foster economic growth and raise living standards for workers; support widely-shared prosperity; foster safe working environments for workers; and foster workers rights in accordance with relevant international labor principles while fully respecting the national laws of both the United States and China.

The U.S. Department of Labor also announced a $3.5 million grant to help combat HIV/AIDS through workplace-related education programs. The funds are part of the $9.5 million grant from the DOL to the International Labor Organization (ILO) that supports these types of programs worldwide. The project in China is designed to educate workplaces about the standards of healthcare associated with persons living and working with HIV/AIDS. The Chinese Ministries of Labor, Social Security and Health, working with the ILO and the U.S. Department of Labor, will develop information to educate workers on the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Through a $4.1 million grant, the U.S. DOL has already been collaborating with Chinese officials in the development of The Rule of Law Project. The rapid growth of private investment in China's economy during the past 10 years has far outpaced the government's ability to set up effective industrial relations systems to manage a range of new workplace issues. In response, the U.S. Department of Labor, through a consortium of implementing organizations, is assisting the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in China to more effectively address workers rights issues in a market economy.

In addition to the $4.1 million Rule of Law grant, the U.S. DOL working with the Chinese State Administration for Work Safety also funded a $2.3 million grant in late 2002 to enhance Mine Safety and Health in China. As the world's largest coal producer with rudimentary safety and health mechanisms in place, China has experienced a high number of worker deaths in their coal mines. The U.S. Department of Labor is working with relevant government bodies to develop mine rescue techniques and institutionalize the systematic training of government and mine personnel in those techniques; to strengthen the capacity of government personnel to promote and enforce workplace safety and health laws in Chinese mines; to train miners and mine operators in safe operational methods and practices; and to develop pilot projects to demonstrate the benefits of safer techniques in mines.


(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)