China plan to create 45m jobs in three years Beijing is seeking to keep unemployment at or below five per cent despite the closures or downsizing of factories in the manufacturing hubs and a slow down in infrastructure projects. However, the Government's employment data is viewed by many observers as notoriously fudged and distorted. The current official urban unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent does not include the work status of the scores of millions of migrant workers living in the cities. Worryingly, latest official figures show China's GDP expanded by 9.2 per cent in 2011 year-on-year - down from 10.3 per cent in 2010. A further slowdown is expected this year. Even so, the growth rate of the world's second largest economy remains robust. "China now still maintains relatively fast growth compared with other economies in the world, and is capable of generating 45 million new jobs by 2015," said Professor Yao Yuqun from Beijing's Renmin University. Compared with the previous employment drive, fewer jobs are expected to be created over the next few years, however. State media claims 57.71 million jobs were created in urban areas between 2006 and 2010. The 2011-2015 plan also pledges to maintain an average 13 per cent annual growth in the nation's minimum wage, to improve workers' rights and tackle huge wage disparities.