Yet small signals under the surface suggest worry over the mindsets of ordinary Chinese. There are, for example, restless peasant and working classes - of which the recent crackdown on the outlawed Falun Gong movement is part of the story. In a press conference March 10, a high ranking minister hinted that about 52 million industrial workers will lose jobs over the next five years. China has some 145 million registered industrial workers. The government classifies many of the laid-off as not employed but looking, and not counted as jobless.
Authorities take as progress what they say is a slow but steady public adjustment to a new economy.
Three years ago people could never accept this. What they hear is, 'There are already too many people with your problems. Official employment rates range between 3 and 5 percent. But outside experts say the real figure ranges between 15 and 30 percent. At the NPC meeting, officials announced a new social security and pension system.