Your Maths question is a little shrimp to me. 1.04 to the 11th is a 50% growth of total laborers. Assuming your 700mill is correct back in 97, 4% growth will lead to today's work force of 1billion, which leads to your empty school phrase.

But the only questions, back in 97, nobody in their right mind would believe there were 700million fully employed people as labor force in China. I don't even consider the communist party officials, propoganda officials, advisory committee members and all those junks in every government levels are economically employed. So I can find easily another 4% work force for you this year: who are non-employed or fakely employed, who we can turn to REALLY productively employed.