China's Ministry of Labor and Social Security reported a 4.2 percent registered urban unemployment rate by the end of September, raising the hope that annual employment targets will be met.

At a press conference Tuesday in Beijing, the ministry also revealed that an additional 8.1 million urban people found jobs in the first nine months of this year, fulfilling 90 percent of the annual target set by the government.

The Chinese government has set a target to enable an additional 9 million people find jobs and keep the registered urban unemployment rate below 4.6 percent in 2005.

"If the trend continues, we will be able to fulfill the employment targets of this year," said an official with the ministry.

At the end of September, the number of registered jobless urban population stood at 8.35 million.

China has kept the registered urban unemployment rate below 5 percent in recent years, which was 3.6 percent in 2001, 4 percent in 2002, 4.3 percent in 2003 and 4.2 percent in 2004, according to statistics of the ministry.

Source: Xinhua