Mayor Han Zheng attended the 2005 International Forum on Economic Globalization and Trade Unions yesterday in Shanghai. His speech at the opening ceremony brief the guests on the current situation of the trade unions in Shanghai.
Poverty has become a tough problem afflicting the global economy and social development, Wang Zhaoguo, chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions said at the event.
"The growing trend of economic globalization has built up material wealth to an unprecedented level," Wang said. "At the same time, however, globalization has also brought a large number of huge risks and challenges to many countries, and exacerbated the unfair distribution of wealth in the world."
Chen Rongshu, secretary of the ACFTU, said the Chinese government has built an urban poverty reduction mechanism to help poor people in big cities find work.
Unlike rural poverty, urban poverty has been caused largely by economic readjustment, which has resulted in massive unemployment.
"As a major force for China's anti-poverty strategy, the Chinese trade unions have made strenuous efforts to help poor urban workers including helping laid-off and jobless workers obtain new employment and tackling the financial difficulties of needy workers," Chen said.
Xu Zhenghuan, vice chairman of the ACFTU, also addressed the opening ceremony.
Representatives of trade unions from India, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico attended the two-day forum.