ILO NEWS (Geneva) - The Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China Mr. Wang Xiaochu, and the Director General of the International Labour Organization (lLO) Mr Juan Somavia have signed a US$1 million partnership agreement.

Under the “Partnership Agreement for Promoting Technical Cooperation with a Focus on South-South Initiatives”, the People’s Republic of China is committing US$1 million over three years to support South-South cooperation and the Decent Work agenda. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China will assist developing countries in Asia promote full employment and decent work, through innovative technical cooperation projects that will facilitate the dissemination of good practices.

The signing ceremony took place on Tuesday 12 June 2012 during the 101st International Labour Conference, the annual meeting of the ILO’s member States.

Speaking at the signing ceremony Mr Somavia described the agreement as “historic and significant”. “With this generous commitment, China is demonstrating its full support for South-South exchanges in the pursuit of decent work and employment in a very concrete way,” he said.

The agreement makes China the second of the so-called BRICS countries (Brazil, China, India, the Russian Federation, and South Africa) to sign a South-South agreement with the ILO.

For more information please contact:

Qiaoling Chen
Information Officer – ILO Beijing
Tel.: +41 (0) 79 558 6329
Email

Sophy Fisher
Regional Information Officer
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok)
Tel.: +41 (0) 79 558 6333
Email