(CRIENGLISH.com)
Updated: 2007-09-03 15:18

As more and more Chinese workers go to work overseas, the Chinese government has started to make further efforts to safeguard their rights and improve the labor cooperation service system.

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has set up a telephone hotline to provide information on overseas labor cooperation projects. Anyone who wants to go abroad and work can now check through the hotline service as to the validity of the enterprises, the projects they run overseas and the application procedures for working there.

Wu Xilin, director of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Department of the MOFCOM, explained: "We have opened the hotline to handle inquiries about government policies regarding foreign labor cooperation, which is an efficient and convenient way to learn basic and useful knowledge about working overseas. It also helps workers reduce troubles and risks in foreign countries, cut their spendings and secure their rights and interests."

The number of Chinese laborers working overseas has seen a rapid increase in recent years due to their low cost. Statistics show that 730,000 Chinese workers are now working on cooperation projects in more than 160 countries and regions.

Increasing problems, however, go with the rapid expansion. In some cases, illegal enterprises attempt to defraud and swindle workers out of their money, under the name of foreign labor cooperation.

The MOFCOM has adopted a series of measures to address these problems. On one hand, efforts have been strengthened to check the validity of the enterprises involved in foreign labor cooperation. The ministry has started to update its security warnings for working overseas. On the other hand, it has been handing out brochures, provided training programs for workers and designating special sections to overseas cooperation projects on its website.

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