People's Lives

The financial resources available to Beijing's residents that will enable them to purchase more and a higher standard of goods and services will be upgraded prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Housing, transportation and telecommunications are focal points of attention. In 2003, there were 7.033 million people employed in the city, 241,000 more than in 2002. The re-employment rate of laid-off workers was 68.1 percent. Even though 201,200 new job vacancies were reported, more than 179,000 urban laid-off labours found new jobs. The city's multilayered social security system is maturing. Many more people are able to purchase retirement plans, afford medical treatment, to get unemployment or employment-injury insurance.