BEIJING (Kyodo) -- The Chinese government said Monday that it will give tax breaks and grants to labor-intensive businesses to help secure and create jobs as China feels the effects of a global economic slowdown.

Ministry of Human Resources spokesman Yin Chengji told a press conference the government will also offer subsidies to exporters to help further boost the country's economy.

Unemployment in China at the end of last month stood at 4 percent, with about 8.3 million out of work.

State media have reported heavy job losses among some export businesses in recent weeks as the global economic slowdown begins to bite, particularly among manufacturing companies in the southern province of Guangdong.

Yin said, "The international financial crisis triggered by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis has affected the employment situation in China, particularly many export-oriented businesses, so the government has decided to take a specific range of measures."

The government announced earlier this month that economic growth in China dropped to 9 percent in the third quarter of the year, compared with 10.1 percent in the second and 10.6 percent in the first.

It was the first time China has recorded less than double-digit growth in a financial quarter in three years.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told the Asia-Europe Meeting in Beijing over the weekend that the fundamentals of China's economy are sound, but the threat of recession in other areas of the world will have an impact on China's economic prospects.

"We need confidence to deal with this once-in-a-century, huge financial risk," he said. "We need to strengthen cooperation among countries."