In fact, China's first township mayor was elected by an experimental popular vote in late April. The incumbent, Li Weiwen, won a clear majority in a second round of balloting to continue his tenure in a Shenzhen town. Also haunting China and its leaders are the growing ranks of the jobless. The issue conditions and often limits some of Zhu Rongji's initiatives to reform the economy and streamline the government. In the larger cities, laid-off workers generally have not taken to the streets in protest because job opportunities are still available.
Few people believe the figure.
They receive almost none of the relatively meager social benefits available to urban dwellers. With the influx of rural migrants and a growing scarcity of jobs as China enters a deflationary phase, crime in the cities is rising to alarming levels. Migrant gangs are proliferating, and organized and violent crime are becoming big headaches for urban police forces. Authorities have experimented with job-creation programs, with uneven results. Efforts have also been made to expand the pool of unemployment funds.