Urban jobless rate at 4.1% in Q1
THE country s urban unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent by the end of March, with 9.09 million people registered unemployed, an official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said Friday.
China had created 3.03 millon jobs in the first three months, spokesman Yin Chengji told a press conference. The first quarter unemployment rate remained unchanged from the end of last year. Some 1.33 million laid-off workers were re-employed from January to March, said Yin. The government aims to keep the urban registered unemployment rate below 4.6 percent and create more than 9 million jobs in 2011.
Samsung eyes China LCD JV deal
SAMSUNG Electronics Co. said Friday it would invest 541 billion won (US$500.5 million) to set up a US$3 billion flat-screen production joint venture in China, as it targets the fast-growing consumer electronics market. The world s largest maker of liquid crystal display (LCD) screens received Chinese approval for the plant construction in December along with LG Display, which is planning a separate US$4 billion eighth-generation plant in Guangzhou.
Panasonic to shift battery output to China
PANASONIC Corp. will shift more of its output of lithium ion batteries to China from Japan, aiming to slash production costs and maintain its top share in the global market, the Nikkei business daily reported Saturday.
Panasonic will invest 20-30 billion yen (US$244-US$366 million) by the end of 2012 to build a new plant in China and to upgrade facilities. Under the plan, it aims to cut manufacturing costs by 30 percent while boosting its share of output for the batteries in China to 50 percent by 2015. It currently makes 80-90 percent of its lithium ion batteries in Japan, and the rest in China.
