Boost benefits to retain skilled workers, SOEs told

China's State-owned enterprises directly managed by the central government have been instructed to take steps to improve benefits for skilled workers - for example, offering more stock ownership incentives - to help sustain key workforces and improve the quality of Chinese manufacturing.

"Central SOEs must improve the political, financial and social treatment of skilled workers, especially highly skilled talent, from an overall strategic perspective," Xu Fushun, deputy director of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said on Thursday.

Those SOEs must properly expand access to stock ownership for skilled workers, he said. "Incentives should not be available only to senior managers and core technicians, but also to excellent front-line industrial skilled workers and craftsmen," he said. "They should also be given priority to enjoy opportunities for overseas training, medical leave and vacations."