Work force development in the Peoples' Republic of China (PRC) is affected by sundry but interrelated factors. Included among these are the following: (1) the PRC's population of one billion people; (2) a recent history of political turmoil and violence, resulting in profound changes in national leadership and vacillation in national policy; (3) implementation of "The Great Leap Forward," a plan for modernization that attempts to bring China to the technological level of developed countries by the year 2000; (4) 30 years of a comparative increase in living standards and the escalating expectations of China's populace for an even greater rate of increase; and (5) an educational system incapable of providing much needed higher and technical education to more than 4 percent of middle school graduates. However, the PRC's work force development picture is changing as new strategies are being developed and implemented to meet the country's educational needs. Among those efforts to increase access to technical education in China are widespread broadcast of university-level television instruction; development of state-owned or tertiary industries that provide on-the-job training to unskilled middle school graduates and leavers; and reexamination of existing state-controlled job placement procedures. (MN)