BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The National Labor Medal, the highest honor for Chinese workers, has for the first time been awarded to the migrant worker before the International Labor Day.

    Bao Xianfeng, who came to work in the city from the countryside, has become the first migrant worker who won the medal for his outstanding contributions. He is now a group leader of a construction company in east China's Zhejiang Province.

    "This is a great breakthrough," said Zhou Yuqing, vice chairmanof the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), "and it showsthe contributions of migrant workers are being widely recognized."

    Statistics with the ACFTU show that China has about 99 million migrant workers and the number is expected to increase by 5 million every year.

    They have become an important part of China's labor force, saidZhou.

    As Bao is the only migrant worker in the 1,005-winners' list this year, Zhou said the ACFTU is considering to include more migrant workers in National Labor Medal winners next year.

    Apart from a medal and a certificate, the ACFTU has decided to give the model workers a bonus of 3,000 yuan (about 362 US dollars)every person, starting from 2004.

    In the past, the private sector only accounts for a small ratioin the labor medal winners, about three or four every year. And most of them belong to managerial staff. This year, altogether 18 people from the private sector gained the medal and six of them are front line workers.

    Among the 1005 medalists this year, 569 people are front-line workers, accounting for 56.62 percent; 252 people work in science,technology and education sectors, accounting for 25.07 percent; 62people are enterprise managers, about 6.17 percent.

    The National Labor Medal was intended mainly to reward laborersworking in the front-line state-owned enterprises, for their outstanding performance and contributions to the society. Enditem