China is slowly loosening itself from the clutches of poverty.

According to a United Nation report, the number of people living in extreme poverty in the country is down by some 50 per cent since 10 years ago.

It is a success linked not only to China's enormous economic growth but also to Beijing's efforts to productively employ society's have-nots.

The United Nations says China is a role model in the fight against poverty in East Asia.

According to the UN Human Development Programme 2003 report, the percentage of people living on less than US$1 a day dropped from 33 per cent in 1990 to 16 per cent in 2000.

This is thanks to China's nine per cent growth rate during the past decade, helping some 150 million Chinese out of dire poverty.

However, unemployment still remains a big issue in the country.

Said one laid-off worker: "Now we're jobless. The minimum pension is not enough even for food. We want compensation."

Experts believe while China is in transition moving from a state driven economy to a market economy, unemployment will continue to pose a problem.

This is because future job cuts are likely as state run industries have a legacy of overstaffing.

But if China can maintain growth over the next few years and increase its service sector to go above 40 per cent, jobless rates can be kept low.

The UN report ranks 175 countries according to progress on key social and economic indicators such as adult literacy rates and per capita gross domestic product. Norway tops the list and Sierra Leone is at the bottom.

Bangladesh, China, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand have moved up the list throughout the past decade.

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