US embassy cable - 04BEIJING7258

UNCLAS  BEIJING 007258 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/CM, DRL/IL 
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR FOR NEUREITER, BCLATENHOFF 
LABOR FOR ILAB LEVINE, LI ZHAO, RSHEPARD 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/INA-KEIDEL AND DEPUY 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN 
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EFIN, ETRD, PHUM, PREL, CH 
SUBJECT:  Deputy U/S Levine Meets with Premier Wen Jiabao 
 
Ref:  A) Beijing 6973   B) Beijing 7059   C) Beijing 7060 
 
1.  (U)  Summary:  Premier Wen Jiabao met with Deputy 
Undersecretary for Labor Affairs Arnold Levine, Special 
Representative of Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and with 
Labor Ministers attending the China Employment Forum.  D/US 
Levine met with Ministry of Labor and Cooperation Director 
for International Cooperation Liu Xu, and with Administrator 
of the State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) Wang 
Xianzheng.  End Summary. 
 
2.  D/US for International Labor Affairs Arnold Levine, 
representing Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and labor 
ministers from 26 countries attending the China Employment 
Forum, met April 29 with China's Premier Wen Jiabao.  The 
Premier opened his remarks by quoting "the first President 
of the United States" for the proposition that "the 
impoverished have no freedom."  Expanding on that theme, he 
noted that China has now changed to a development strategy 
that puts people first.  He emphasized the size of the 
challenge, especially that of finding jobs for the 100 
million migrant workers flooding the cities.  China must 
create 10 million jobs per year, he said. 
 
3.  Earlier the same day, D/US Levine met with Ministry of 
Labor and Social Security Director General for Bilateral 
Affairs Liu Xu.  D/US Levine reconfirmed the offer made to 
Vice Minister Bu to broaden and deepen cooperation on labor 
issues, and noted that he would convey the invitation to 
visit China to Secretary Chao.  DG Xu thanked D/US Levine 
for informing him, and said he would convey the news 
immediately to his Minister.  He called the decision an 
important one for the relationship between the two 
governments, and for the relationship between the two 
departments.  D/US Levine briefly introduced the possibility 
of funding a China HIV-AIDS in the Workplace program through 
the ILO in the amount of approximately USD 3 million.  He 
noted that DOL intends to work with the MOLSS as lead 
agency, and welcomed collaboration with the Ministry of 
Health as well. 
 
4.  Also on April 29, D/US Levine met with Administrator of 
the State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) Wang 
Xianzheng, and with Bai Ran, Director, National Center for 
International Exchange and Cooperation (NCIEC), a non- 
governmental organization associated with the State 
Administration for Work Safety.  Administrator Wang thanked 
D/US Levine for the visit two years ago of Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety David Lauritsky, and for 
assistance given to the Ministry in improving its mine 
rescue skills through participation in the mine rescue 
competition.  D/US Levine noted that Administrator Wang will 
travel to the United States in May, and that A/S Lauritsky 
plans to travel to China in June. 
 
5.  The Chinese government has always paid great attention 
to the safety and health of its workers, and the new 
government has increased that attention because of its 
attention to the human aspects of development, the 
Administrator said.  That morning, Wang told Levine, he had 
attended a meeting chaired by Vice Premier Wu Yi.  She told 
the group that the rapid increase in GDP had also had an 
impact on work safety, in part because of insufficient 
management and training.  China hopes to learn from the 
experience of the United States in workplace safety and 
health.  He noted that it will take time for China to 
develop its workplace health and safety programs and 
capabilities.  The new leadership has begun to shift 
emphasis from reducing fatalities to improving occupational 
health, Wang said.  To realize fundamental change, China 
must learn from the experience of other countries, he said. 
In addition, China must improve the safety awareness of 
workers, rely on science and technology to improve 
equipment, and improve the legal system for work safety. 
Within the last several years, SAWS has engaged in 
cooperative projects with 20 countries to improve workplace 
safety and health. 
 
6.  D/US Levine told Administrator Wang that Secretary of 
Labor Elaine Chao had designated him to explore broader, 
deeper cooperation with China in labor-related areas.  He 
told the Administrator that he hopes to explore with SAWS 
the possibility of expanded cooperation in the area of 
occupational safety and health.  In a slide presentation 
NCIEC Director Bai told D/US Levine about cooperation 
projects with Japan, Germany, and the International Labor 
Organization. 
 
7.  This cable was cleared by the Department of Labor 
delegation before leaving Beijing. 
 
Randt