Beijing - About 17 million of the 26 million workers laid-off by state-owned firms in China from 1998 to June this year have been re-employed, said Zhang Zuoji, minister of labor and social security.

The minister said this at a seminar held Friday by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee in cooperation with other departments.

He said 90 percent of laid-off workers received assistance from the government-funded re-employment centers and almost all are given regular living allowances while they are out of work.

The basic pension, from a fund totaling 829.6 billion yuan (101.1 billion US dollars), has also been paid to retired people acrossthe country from 1998 to June this year, he added.

By the end of 2001, 104 million employees were covered by unemployment insurance, and 140 million were covered by basic pension insurance at the end of last year.

The number of employees in China totaled 730 million in 2001, up 83 million on the 650 million in 1990, he said.