Completion Report

Project Number: 49311-001 Technical Assistance Number: 9114 March 2021

People's Republic of China: Jiaozuo National Pilot Project for the Standardization of Public Employment Services

This document is being disclosed to the public in accordance with ADB's Access to Information Policy.

In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE COMPLETION REPORT

TA Number, Country, and Name: Amount Approved: $400,000.00 TA 9114-PRC: Jiaozuo National Pilot Project for the Revised Amount: $600,000.00 Standardization of Public Employment Services Executing Agency: Source of Funding: Amount Undisbursed: Amount Used: Provincial Department of Technical Assistance $246,388.13 $353,611.87 Finance 1 Special Fund-other sources ($400,000)

Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund ($200,000) TA Approval Date: TA Signing Date: TA Completion Date 13 May 2016 8 June 2016 Original Date: Latest Revised Date: 31 December 2017 31 March 2020

Financial Closing Number of Date: 1 June 2020 Extensions: 4 TA Type: Capacity development TA

Description As the economy in the People's Republic of China (PRC) underwent transformation and its growth slowed, the establishment and improvement of the urban and rural public employment service (PES) system became a priority. PES in the PRC, by statute, assumes a comprehensive set of functions, such as job brokerage, labor market information, active labor market programs, administration and management of unemployment benefits and other benefits, and labor migration. Yet the availability, quality, and effectiveness of PES has been uneven across the country, particularly between urban and rural areas. Against this backdrop, the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan, 2016–2020 emphasized the importance of a coordinated urban–rural PES to promote stable employment, especially for those who face difficulties in labor market transitions, including college graduates, rural migrant workers, laid-off workers, the unemployed, and graduates from universities abroad.

Jiaozuo is a resource-exhausted municipality of Henan Province which has been undergoing industrialization, urbanization, agricultural modernization, and digitization as a provincial-level economic transformation demonstration city. In 2014, the Labor Exchange Center (LEC) of the Jiaozuo Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security started a national pilot project for the standardization of PES to enhance the availability, quality, and effectiveness of PES at LEC and 11 and county centers, 102 township stations, and 1,826 village stations. Although the national pilot project was to be closed in April 2017, it became clear by the midterm stage that the project was facing many challenges. Substantial work remained yet to develop a set of standards for PES, train PES staff at the municipal, district, county, township, and village levels to apply the standards to day-to-day PES operations, get the standards adopted at the national level, and draw and disseminate lessons and recommendations from the project nationwide. The technical assistance (TA) was requested to support those remaining tasks.

Expected Impact, Outcome, and Outputs The expected impact of the TA was the equalization of PES between urban and rural areas. The intended outcome was the enhancement of the quality and effectiveness of PES. The TA had three outputs: (i) a complete set of standards for PES developed; (ii) standards application and quality control systems for PES established; and (iii) knowledge about the standardization of PES strengthened.

Implementation Arrangements Henan Provincial Department of Finance was the TA executing agency which oversaw coordination of different departments and agencies involved in the standardization of PES. Jiaozuo Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security was the TA implementing agency which assumed overall responsibility for TA activities through LEC. LEC provided in-kind contributions in the form of counterpart staff, office space, data and information, and logistical support, and mobilized PES at the district and county levels and below to carry out TA activities.

1 Henan Finance Bureau in the TA report. Henan Provincial Department of Finance is the official name of the executing agency.

2

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) selected and engaged two consulting firms using the quality- and cost-based selection method (90:10 quality–cost ratio) and simplified technical proposal. In accordance with the output-based partial lumpsum contract, the first consulting firm provided 2 person-months of international inputs and 11 person- months of national inputs to support the development and updating of standards for PES and training of PES staff on the application of the standards by introducing good practices in PES in the PRC and abroad, particularly in the profiling of job seekers and the targeting of different types of PES, internal quality control systems, and records and document management. The second consulting firm, in accordance with the output-based full lumpsum contract, provided 46 person-months of national inputs to develop an information technology (IT) platform which supports the application of the standards to the day-to-day operations of PES. In addition, ADB engaged one international individual consultant (1.5 person-months) to review international experiences and lessons from high-income countries and prepare recommendations for developing, implementing, evaluating, and updating public service standards. Although the procurement of laptops was envisaged, it proved unnecessary during the TA implementation.

Upon the request of Henan Provincial Department of Finance in August 2017, an additional funding of $200,000 was obtained from the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund (EAKPF) in July 2018 to expand the original scope of the IT platform under development with enhanced business processes and to assess the need for IT infrastructure and the capacity of PES at the municipal, district, county, township, and village levels for the deployment of the IT platform at PES beyond LEC. It was planned to (i) increase national inputs of the second consulting firm for the development of the IT platform by 22 person-months; and (ii) engage international and national individual consultants, including 1.5 person-months of international inputs for big data analytics for PES, 1.5 person-months of international inputs for IT system and infrastructure, and 4.0 person-months of national inputs for IT system and big data analytics. However, prolonged contract negotiations failed between ADB and the joint venture IT firm of the second consulting firm which was to be engaged using the single-source selection method, because the firm did not agree to sign the standard contract with ADB. It was eventually agreed between ADB, Henan Provincial Department of Finance, and Jiaozuo Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security that the additional TA activities to be funded by EAKPF should be cancelled.

Conduct of Activities The TA activities began with the mobilization of the first consulting firm in November 2016. Between November 2016 and January 2017, the consulting firm conducted (i) desk review of the PRC's national PES standard system established in 2010, PES records and document management policies and systems, and experiences with the standardization of PES in and , Province; (ii) literature review of PES in the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries regarding institutional arrangements, functions, services, target groups, techniques used for jobseeker profiling and PES targeting, and internal quality control systems; (iii) key informant interviews with government bureaus and agencies involved in PES at the municipal level; (iv) field visits to PES at the county, township, and village levels in two counties of Jiaozuo to investigate institutional arrangements for, and organizational structures, functions, target groups, and infrastructures of PES at different levels; and (v) assessments of the PES standard system and the standards already developed, resources and procedures for developing standards, internal quality control systems, and records and document management systems at LEC. The firm developed lists of standards to be developed and upgraded and the methodology for developing and upgrading standards which were presented and discussed at the TA inception workshop organized in February 2017 with the participation of Henan Provincial Department of Finance, Henan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Jiaozuo Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, and LEC.

In February 2017, the consulting firm visited PES at the municipal, district, county, township, and village levels and conducted interviews with employers and jobseekers about their expectations from PES. In March 2017, the firm organized a study visit for core members of the PES standardization team at LEC to Xicheng District Human Resources and Public Service Center in Beijing which implemented the national pilot project for the standardization of PES. Based on discussions with the PES standardization team at LEC and the experience of the other national pilot projects, a framework for restructuring the existing system of PES standards at LEC was drafted and discussed at the TA interim workshop held in August 2017. Initial case studies of PES standardization at LEC were also discussed at the workshop, including (i) procedures and service quality regarding the organization of the Jiaozuo Innovation and Entrepreneurship Symposium; (ii) selection and operational procedures for the talent service team; and (iii) procedures for organizing cross regional job fairs. The workshop was joined by the second consulting firm which had been mobilized in July 2017 to develop the IT platform for PES. After the workshop, a training workshop on PES standardization and records and document management was organized for over 70 PES staff at the municipal, district, county, township, and village levels.

With the support of the first consulting firm, representatives from Henan Provincial Department of Finance, Henan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, and LEC visited Germany and the United Kingdom in October 2017 to learn about the management and reform of PES. In Germany, the representatives familiarized themselves with the PES system reform by meeting with social security and employment agencies in Bremen. In the

3

United Kingdom, they held discussions with Newham Council, job centers, and other agencies on the employment policy and PES, IT systems, training, and labor protection. LEC presented their findings from the study visits at the knowledge sharing workshop organized in February 2018 which was attended by Henan Provincial Department of Finance, Henan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Henan Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, Henan Standardization Research Institute, Jiaozuo Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, and district and county PES. Also discussed at the workshop were in-depth studies of two of the three cases selected and detailed recommendations by the consulting firm for merging existing standards; aligning with relevant national and industry standards; specifying service quality and results, and the processes and requirements for collecting, analyzing, and using data and information; and developing new standards in accordance with the restructured system of PES standards. These recommendations were further refined while LEC worked on the restructured system of PES standards. In June 2018, another study visit was organized by the consulting firm to Jinan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, Shandong Province which implemented the national pilot project for the standardization of PES, together with training workshop on quality control system and job seeker profiling and PES targeting. Over 30 chiefs and staff of LEC and district and county PES participated in the study visit and training workshop.

After the mobilization in July 2017, the second consulting firm conducted analyses of business processes and system functional needs at LEC, district and county PES, Jiaozuo Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, and Jiaozuo Municipal Bureau of Employment and developed detailed design and system requirements for the IT platform. In October 2017, the firm started to develop the IT platform which was tested and became partially operational by February 2018. The firm prepared user manuals and conducted user training in June 2018, while continuously developing and upgrading the IT platform. In November 2018, details of the scope and functions of the IT platform to be developed with the additional fund were discussed and agreed. The process of single source selection of the IT firm (associated with the lead consulting firm) started in March 2019 but was cancelled in August 2019 due to the failure in reaching agreements on the contract between the IT firm and ADB.

Technical Assistance Assessment Ratings Criterion Assessment Rating Relevance The TA met the government's needs for addressing challenges in Highly relevant (weight: 0.35) implementing the national pilot project for the standardization of (rating value: 3; weighted PES. With the support of the TA, LEC successfully completed the rating: 1.05) national pilot project in January 2018. The government further requested additional support to expand one of the TA outputs (the IT platform for PES). The TA outcome was fully aligned with ADB's Strategy 2030 and its country partnership strategy for the PRC, 2016–2020. The TA design and results chain were sound, and the choice of capacity development TA was appropriate. The TA outputs, especially the IT platform for PES, had significant transformative effects as it has enabled users to access services online, has rationalized operating procedures for PES, and has improved user satisfaction with PES. Effectiveness The TA outcome and outputs were essentially achieved, although Effective (weight: 0.35) the full achievement of one of the outcome targets (b) could not be (rating value: 2; weighted verified due to lack of data. The recommendations developed rating: 0.70) under the TA were fundamental in nature, leading to the restructuring of the system for PES standards and changes in the organizational systems and procedures at LEC that had not been envisaged at the TA design stage and that could not be measured quantitatively with one of the output indicators. Yet the recommended restructuring and changes proved crucial to achieve the outcome, which was substantiated with users' feedback on the services they received ("highly satisfied" and "satisfied"). Efficiency All the planned TA outputs and activities were completed within Efficient (weight: 0.30) budget by June 2018 without substantial implementation delay (by (rating value: 2; weighted 6 months). There were no issues with financial reporting and rating: 0.60) procurement. As the government requested additional support to expand the scope of the IT platform developed under the TA, an additional funding of $200,000 was obtained from EAKPF and the TA completion date was further extended (by 21 months). Yet due to the failure in contract negotiations with the IT firm, the additional fund remained unused and was eventually returned to EAKPF in

4

Criterion Assessment Rating full. In addition to in-kind contribution, the government provided its own fund to purchase IT and other equipment to make the most of the IT platform. The TA streamlined internal processes and systems at LEC, which resulted in improved users' satisfaction with PES. Overall The TA rationale and design were sound and fully aligned with Highly successful Assessment ADB's strategies. The choice of TA was appropriate as it met the (overall weighted rating: government's need for capacity building to implement the national 2.35) pilot project for the standardization of PES. Without any cost overruns and substantial implementation delay, the TA outcome and outputs were essentially achieved. There were unanticipated positive transformational effects on internal systems and processes at LEC and users' satisfaction with PES which could not be measured adequately with the indicators in the design and monitoring framework. Sustainability The TA contributed to the upgrading of systems and procedures Most likely sustainable for continuous improvements of PES management at LEC which were built around the IT platform. LEC purchased IT and other equipment with its own funds to make the most of the IT platform and established an IT division in charge of the IT platform in October 2018. Although contract negotiations with the IT firm failed, the firm opened a branch office in (the capital of Henan Province, approximately 2 hours’ drive from Jiaozuo) and posted one staff at LEC during the TA implementation period and addressed issues with the IT platform that the IT division identified before the TA closing. The operation and maintenance of the IT platform is now fully funded with LEC's budget. Therefore, the likelihood of TA benefits after the closing is expected to be substantial.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations Design and/or The TA supported one of PRC Government's key national pilot projects implemented by a local planning government agency. Selectively supporting national pilot projects through TA proved to be a promising approach as it can generate strong government ownership and synergies at the local level. Concurrently providing support to the PRC Government which oversees the national pilot projects may have increased TA benefits beyond the local level. Implementation The guidelines for the national pilot projects for the standardization of public services were broadly and/or delivery formulated to allow local innovation and adaptation, leaving significant room for interpretation. Throughout the TA implementation period, there were considerable differences in interpretation regarding the objectives of the standardization and the content of standards among key actors involved: LEC; Standardization Division of Henan Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision; national experts from the Institute of Labor and Wage Studies, the Institute for Labor Science Studies, and the Center for Employment and Social Security of Tsinghua University engaged as part of the consulting firm to support the development and upgrading of standards for PES; and ADB. Repeated discussions among these key actors eventually led to the recommendations for restructuring the existing system of standards for PES and changing internal systems and procedures at LEC. To better measure the outputs delivered, the quantitative indicators and targets in the design and monitoring framework turned out to be somewhat superficial. Management of IT firms in the PRC which are familiar with ADB's Consultant Management System and standard staff and contract and are willing to work under ADB-financed projects in the PES field proved scarce. The consultants process of recruiting the consulting firm to develop the IT platform for PES had to be launched twice as the first attempt failed because only two firms submitted expression of interest and none of them submitted proposals. In the second round, after extensive outreach efforts by ADB, LEC, and Henan Provincial Department of Finance, seven firms submitted the expression of interest and all the six shortlisted firms submitted proposals. However, contract negotiations with the IT firm which developed the IT platform (associated with the lead consulting firm) for the expansion of the IT platform failed because the IT firm did not agree to sign the standard contract with ADB.

5

The delegation of the contracting authority to the implementing agency with adequate technical supervision arrangements could have been considered for the expansion of the IT platform. Knowledge Three types of knowledge building activities were carried out under the TA: (i) training workshops building on PES standardization and records and document management conducted by national experts for over 70 PES staff at the municipal, district, county, township, and village levels; (ii) study visits to Xicheng District Human Resources and Public Service Center in Beijing and Jinan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, Shandong Province which implemented their national pilot projects for the standardization of PES with the participation of 5–30 chiefs and staff of PES at the municipal, district, and county levels; and (iii) knowledge sharing workshops where LEC presented the takeaway on the management and reform of PES from the international study visits to Germany and the United Kingdom and the three case studies with the participation of Henan Provincial Department of Finance, Henan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Henan Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, Henan Standardization Research Institute, Jiaozuo Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, and district and county PES. The study visits to Beijing and Shandong provided highly interactive learning opportunities for chiefs and staff of PES at the municipal, district, and county levels in Jiaozuo, involving visits to PES at the municipal and district levels, group discussions, and experience sharing with chiefs and staff at PES in Beijing and Shandong. Stakeholder The TA supported the national pilot project for the standardization of PES implemented by LEC. participation As LEC needed to successfully complete the national pilot project, their level of participation was high across all TA activities, and in particular in the development of the IT platform where LEC worked with stationed staff of the IT firm on a regular basis. Partnership and IT platform development is a long-term project where the expertise of the private sector can be cofinancing leveraged. The potential for public–private partnership in IT platform development could have been assessed more systematically even under TA. Replication and/or LEC was introduced to and learned from the experience of Municipal Bureau of scaling up Human Resources and Social Security which developed the vocational training information management platform under another ADB-supported TA in early stages of TA implementation.2 Since the responsibility for developing the IT platform for PES largely rests with municipalities in the PRC, experience sharing among municipalities would lead to further replication and scaling up. Moreover, the role of provinces could be strengthened to facilitate experience sharing among municipalities and integrate and/or link different IT platforms operating at the municipal levels. Post-TA financial The additional funding of $200,000 was needed to expand the scope and functions of the IT resource platform for PES at the district and county levels, although it had to be returned unused partly because of a long period of non-disbursement due to protracted contract negotiations with the IT firm, and partly because of the extension of the TA closing date beyond 2 years. Other activities to be supported with the additional fund included assessments of existing IT infrastructure and capacity at PES at the township and village levels to further expand the scope and functions of the IT platform, and the building of big data analytics capability in the IT platform to improve PES.

Follow-up Actions The standardization of public services remains a priority of the PRC Government and ADB's support in this area continues under other TA projects. Knowledge sharing activities may be organized to examine similar experiences and draw lessons regarding the standardization of public services and the use of digital technologies in the process of standardization.

Prepared by: Asako Maruyama Designation and Division: Senior Education Specialist, SAHS

2 ADB. 2016. Technical Assistance Completion Report: Chongqing Vocational Training Information Management Platform Development in the People's Republic of China. Manila.

6 Appendix 1

DESIGN AND MONITORING FRAMEWORK Impact Public employment services between urban and rural areas equalized (Notification of Social Management and Public Service Standardization) a

Performance Indicators with Results Chain Targets and Baselines Achievements Outcome The quality and a. At least 75% of service users a. Achieved. On average over 80% of customers effectiveness of public respond with "satisfied" or "highly responded "satisfied" or "highly satisfied" with the employment services satisfied" in user satisfaction service they received using the customer feedback enhanced surveys by 2018 (2016 baseline: system built in the IT platform developed under the not applicable) TA. Real time data on customer satisfaction are displayed and monitored on the big screen operational dashboard connected to the IT platform at LEC. b. About 5,000 public b. Likely to have achieved. All core members of the employment service staff at the PES standardization team at LEC and chiefs and staff municipal, district and/or county, of all district and county PES centers acquired the township, and village levels have knowledge and skills required to continuously develop, acquired the knowledge and skills upgrade, and apply standards through training and required to apply relevant knowledge sharing workshops organized under the TA standards by 2018 (2016 by mid-2018. Subsequently, LEC and district and baseline: 0) county PES centers conducted training for PES staff at the township and village levels. However, data on the number of PES staff trained at the township and village levels are not available. Outputs 1. A complete set of By month 8: standards for public 1a. 90% of the existing service 1a. Essentially achieved. Based on the review of the employment services standards upgraded with the existing standards at LEC and relevant national and developed specification of service results industry standards, the system of PES standards at and performance characteristics LEC was recommended to be restructured by merging (2016 baseline: 0%) some existing standards into one, aligning other existing standards with national standards, and developing new standards. Detailed recommendations for specifying service quality and results and making PES more customer-oriented by using jobseeker profiling and PES targeting techniques were developed for each standard to be merged, upgraded, and developed. Given that the number of standards comprising the system of PES standards at LEC changed from 179 to 90, quantitatively measuring the achievement of this target became impossible.

1b. Existing management system 1b. Essentially achieved. Detailed recommendations standards upgraded to include for establishing quality control system and standard quality control systems (2016 operating procedures at LEC, and incorporating the baseline: not upgraded) processes and requirements for collecting, analyzing, and using data and information for quality control into relevant standards for PES management, different types of services (26 types of services are provided at LEC), and digitization were developed. As the recommendations encompassed not only standards but also organizational systems and procedures, the upgrading work was still under way at LEC at the time of the TA closing.

Appendix 1 7

Performance Indicators with Results Chain Targets and Baselines Achievements 1c. Standards for services and 1c. Achieved. Detailed recommendations for management functions involving standardizing the requirements for data and IT developed (2016 baseline: not information collection, processing, privacy, and developed) disclosure were developed for relevant standards for PES management, different types of services, and digitalization and have been integrated into the IT platform for PES developed under the TA. 1d. Standards for public 1d. Achieved. Based on the standards for PES employment services at the developed at LEC which provides a comprehensive district and/or county, township, set of services (26 types of services), the standards and village levels developed for PES at the district, county, township, and village (2016 baseline: not developed) levels (only a limited set of services are provided) were developed. 2. Standards 2a. By month 9, about 10 public 2a. Exceeded the target. By mid-2018, 30 chiefs and application and quality employment service staff at the staff at LEC and district and county PES centers control systems for municipal level trained as master received a series of training on the development, public employment trainers conversant with the upgrading, and application of standards to be able to services established application of the standards to conduct training for PES staff at the municipal, district, provide training for 5,000 staff at county, township, and village levels. Additionally, over the district and/or county, 70 PES staff at the municipal, district, county, township, and village levels (2016 township, and village levels received training on baseline: 0) standards for records and document management.

2b. By month 12, IT platform for 2b. Achieved. IT platform for PES at LEC became public employment services operational and was launched in January 2018. The developed and commissioned platform comprises 8 major systems which were newly with functions for data collection, developed (including mobile and video conferencing analysis, and surveys, and used applications) or integrated from existing ones and by the LEC (2016 baseline: not enables users to access services online and provide developed) feedback on the services they received. Key processes of PES, such as the management of data and files on job seekers, college graduates, and employees were digitalized on the platform. 3. Knowledge about 3a. By month 10, at least 3 case 3a. Achieved. Three cases of PES standardization the standardization of studies on the standardization of were selected and studied by August 2017: public employment public employment services (i) procedures and service quality regarding the services strengthened developed (2016 baseline: 0) organization of the Jiaozuo Innovation and Entrepreneurship Symposium; (ii) selection and operational procedures for the talent service team; and (iii) procedures for organizing cross regional job fairs. The cases selected deal with new types of PES, for which no standards had been developed in the PRC, except those at LEC. The cases (i) and (ii) were further studied in detail in terms of background, standardization process, outcomes, challenges, and lessons learned. 3b. By month 11, about 3b. Achieved. By June 2018, six workshops were 15 provincial and national organized with the participation of provincial officers officers, including those who have (Henan Provincial Department of Human Resources been involved in other national and Social Security, Standardization Division of pilot projects, have gained Henan Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical knowledge on the standards and Supervision) and national experts (Institute of Labor case studies through workshops and Wage Studies, Institute for Labor Science (2016 baseline: 0) Studies, Center for Employment and Social Security of Tsinghua University), including study visits to Xicheng District Human Resources and Public Service Center in Beijing and Jinan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, Shandong Province

8 Appendix 1

Performance Indicators with Results Chain Targets and Baselines Achievements which completed national pilot projects for PES standardization. The participants included over 20 provincial and national officers, including those who have been involved in the national pilot projects. Actual Key Activities with Milestones 1. A complete set of standards for public employment services developed 1.1 Conducted desk and literature review on the national PES standard system and PES records and document management systems in the PRC, as well as on jobseeker profiling and PES targeting techniques, and internal quality control systems of public and private sector organizations in the PRC and abroad (November 2016–January 2017) 1.2 Conducted field research on institutional arrangements for, and functions, organizational structures, and infrastructures of PES at the municipal, district, county, township, and village levels in Jiaozuo (November 2016) 1.3 Developed the framework for restructuring the system of PES standards at LEC (December 2016–April 2017) 1.4 Developed detailed recommendations for merging existing standards, aligning with relevant national and industry standards, specifying service quality and results, and the processes and requirements for collecting, analyzing, and using data and information, and developing new standards in accordance with the restructured system of PES standards (April 2017–June 2018) 1.5 Organized study tours to Germany and the United Kingdom to learn about the management and reform of PES systems (October 2017) 2. Standards application and quality control systems for public employment services established 2.1 Organized training for PES staff at the municipal, district, county, township, and village levels on PES standardization and records and document management in August 2017 and on quality control system and job seeker profiling and PES targeting in June 2018 (2017–2018) 2.2 Conducted business analysis at LEC and associated departments and agencies (July–September 2017) 2.3 Developed and tested IT platform for PES at LEC (October 2017–February 2018) 2.4 Conducted user training on IT platform (June 2018) 2.5 Discussed the second phase of IT platform development focusing on additional functions for PES at the district, county, township, and village levels, and the integration with other IT systems (October 2018–December 2019) 3. Knowledge about the standardization of public employment services strengthened 3.1 Selected three PES standardization cases for studies and information and materials for the case studies collected (February–April 2017) 3.2 Prepared three case studies and further in-depth studies of two of the cases (April 2017–June 2018) 3.3 Organized TA inception workshop in February 2017, TA interim review workshop in August 2017, knowledge sharing and case study workshop in February 2018, and TA final workshop in November 2018 (2017–2018) 3.4 Organized study visits to Xicheng District Human Resources and Public Service Center in Beijing in March 2017 and Jinan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, Shandong Province in June 2018 (2017– 2018) Actual Inputs ADB: $353,611.87 (Technical Assistance Special Fund-other sources) Government: $80,000 (estimated in-kind contributions in the form of counterpart staff, office space, data and information, and logistical support). ADB = Asian Development Bank, IT = information technology, LEC = Labor Exchange Center, PES = public employment services, PRC = People's Republic of China, TA = technical assistance. a Government of the PRC, National Standardization Management Commission, and 26 other central commissions, ministries, and agencies. 2012. Notification of Social Management and Public Service Standardization . Beijing. Source: ADB.

Appendix 2 9

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE COST

Table A2.1: Technical Assistance Cost by Activity ($'000)

Amount Item Original Revised a Actual 1. Consultants 310.0 498.9 297.6 2. Training, seminars and/or conferences 65.0 71.0 56.0 3. Equipment 5.0 5.0 0.0 4. Miscellaneous administration and support costs 5.0 5.0 0.0 5. Contingency 15.0 20.1 0.0 Total 400.0 600.0 353.6 a Additional financing of $200,000 from the e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund approved on 6 July 2018. Source: Asian Development Bank.

Table A2.2: Technical Assistance Cost by Fund ($'000)

TASF-other sources EAKPF Total Cost 1. Original 400.0 0.0 400.0 2. Revised 0.0 200.0 600.0 3. Actual 353.6 0.0 353.6 4. Unused 46.4 200.0 246.4 EAKPF = e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund, TASF = Technical Assistance Special Fund. Source: Asian Development Bank.