CHINESE CHILDREN PLAY IN DISGARDED SEWER PIPE NEAR BEIJING, 1997-04-09 (photo)

The children of impoverished families play in a sewer pipe which has been disgarded in a neighbourhood rubbish tip in the outskirts of Beijing April 6. At a recent employment conference in China's capital city it was concluded that Beijing will only be able to find jobs for 200,000 of the 426,000 people expected to be looking for work in 1997. At least 175,000 new workers will enter the city's labour pool in 1997, while another 251,000 would be seeking jobs after being laid off or leaving former posts. There have been growing concerns about the welfare of the workers' children. CHINA