New measures

Wei Baigang, the ministry's chief economist, said the department had worked hard to boost migrant workers' job prospects and incomes by releasing employment information in a timely manner, organizing recruitment fairs solely for their benefit and transporting people to workplaces far from their hometowns.

The measures have started to take effect, according to Wei, who said that by late September most of the migrant workers whose prospects had been affected by the epidemic had found employment.

By the end of the third quarter, the number of rural laborers who had left home to find work had reached 179 million, a rise of 2 million from the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the average monthly income of migrant workers jumped to 4,035 yuan ($617), marking year-on-year growth of 2.1 percent, he said.

In October, Zhang Ying, director of the employment promotion department at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, spoke at a news conference in Beijing: "The employment of migrant workers is key to economic development, social stability and the improvement in living standards. We'll try our best to introduce more measures and make sure that they are implemented properly to guarantee jobs for this group," she said.

She added that as the epidemic had made it difficult for some migrant workers to find jobs outside of their hometowns, the ministry had joined with 15 other government departments to implement a series of measures aimed at boosting and securing employment opportunities.

During the outbreak, the ministry established transregional and transprovincial systems to transport migrant workers from their homes to factories, Zhang Ying said, adding that the system has helped 6 million migrant workers to resume work in large cities so far this year.