BEIJING - China announced measures Thursday aimed at absorbing job losses and staving off civil unrest, amid rising concerns the economic crisis was fuelling long-simmering social tensions across the country.

The policies cover a wide range of areas, such as raising compensation for farmers kicked off their land, helping laid-off workers, ensuring police handle protests correctly and clearing a backlog of sensitive court cases.

"The campaign will help to ease social conflicts, protect the people's legal interests and maintain social stability," Zhou Yongkang, China's top law enforcer, said in detailing the eight-month programme to clear the court cases.

China's Communist Party has long been obsessed with social stability, concerned that any type of protest could escalate into a major challenge to its 59-year rule.

With China's economy slowing, a series of high-profile protests have erupted recently over job losses and long-standing grievances over the many injustices in Chinese society such as powerful interests taking people's land.

Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu warned police chiefs they "should be aware of the challenge brought by the global financial crisis and try their best to maintain social stability", the official China Daily reported.

Highlighting the concerns, thousands of people took to the streets this week in northwest China's Gansu province wielding axes, chains and other weapons to confront authorities over a typical "land grab" dispute.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high in southern Guangdong province, China's manufacturing heartland, where thousands of manufacturing workers have gathered in recent weeks outside closed-down factories to demand unpaid wages.

Social Security Minister Yin Weimin admitted that an expected spike in unemployment was a serious concern for the government.

"We have called on all levels of the human resources and social security ministry to... place priority on the stabilisation of the employment situation as the top task that we must tackle," Yin told reporters.

He announced a series of measures to try to stave off unemployment and to help those who have lost their jobs, particularly among the 230 million rural migrant workers who form the backbone of China's struggling export industry.

Yin said measures included helping migrants find a job when they come to urban areas and providing extra training for those returning home.

The ministry of land and resources, meanwhile, announced it would increase compensation for farmers' land from 2009 "to guarantee the lawful rights of farmers whose land has been taken", in a statement on its website Thursday.

Government-backed "land grabs" are a common occurrence in China and have sometimes fuelled violent protests as owners of the properties are forcibly moved away to make way for new developments.

These issues were the backdrop to this week's two-day riot in Longnan, Gansu province, which left 60 people injured.

The "land grab" issue was also being addressed as part of the campaign to clear the sensitive court cases announced by Zhou via the official Xinhua news agency.

Six types of court cases were listed as priorities to be fast-tracked, including those linked to land disputes, others delayed due to local government interference and ones involving migrant worker payments, Xinhua reported.

- AFP/ir