TY - CHAP T1 - Faces of Chinese Labor Regimes: Case Studies in Beijing and Shenzhen T2 - Global China: Internal and External Reaches Y1 - 2015 A1 - Wang, Ting A1 - Chris King-Chi Chan ED - Pak Nung Wong ED - Yu-shek Joseph Cheng KW - China KW - labor relations KW - production politics KW - workplace management AB -

China has been under the spotlight in the different disciplines of the social sciences. Having maintained high economic growth and relative social stability for more than 30 years, China has become another miracle of the East Asian development model (Fukasaku et al. 2005). The success of China in recovering from the recent global economic recession has further attracted research interest on its state-led development strategy (Cheng 2012; Hsu, Wu and Zhao 2011; Lardy 2012). Together with India, China has been regarded as one of the two rising powers in Asia that provide an alternative challenge to the Western dominated global political economy and exert significant impacts on the developing world (Ikenberry 2008, 23–37; Kaplinsky and Messner 2008, 197–209). Nevertheless, 30 years after its reform, the Chinese state remains authoritarian in nature, although it has suffered from escalating challenges from below. Although political mobilization has been constrained after the repression of the 1989 student movement, the privatization reform in the public sector and the expansion of an export-oriented economy since the early 1990s have dramatically widened the income discrepancy in the country and given rise to a series of socio-economic changes. This chapter focuses on the question of labor relations. It will investigate the impact of the reform on different components of the Chinese working class and the prospect of a labor movement in China. In the past decade, China labor studies have either focused on migrant workers in Foreign-Invested Enterprises (FIEs) in South China or downsized workers from State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in North China, with little attention paid to contemporary labor practices inside domestic enterprises, including the SOEs after privatization as well as the new emerging domestic Privately-Owned Enterprises (POEs). As China is generally regarded as a rising power that will reshape the global political economy, it is important to revisit the labor politics of Chinese factories with different forms of ownership so that a comprehensive picture of the Chinese labor movement and its implications can be drawn. With original data collected from interviews in two factories, an SOE in Beijing and an FIE in Shenzhen, this chapter compares Chinese global and domestic factories in terms of production politics and working class experiences. Through an analysis of the changing labor relations and workplace management with respect to various forms of ownership, the implication for the prospect of a labor movement in the country will be discussed. We will reflect whether the Chinese working class is convergent or differentiated, and its implications for the labor movement and Chinese development model. The factory case studies were conducted from fieldwork in Beijing from 2011 to 2012 and in Shenzhen from 2012 to 2013. This chapter has also benefited from our intensive studies of Chinese labor relations in the past 10 years.

JA - Global China: Internal and External Reaches PB - World Scientific Publishing Company CY - Singapore L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Changing Labour Regulations And Labour Standards In China: Retrospect And Challenges JF - International Labour Review Y1 - 2014 A1 - Chris King-Chi Chan A1 - Khalid Nadvi KW - China KW - corporate responsibility KW - labor policy KW - labor standards KW - working conditions AB -

China's global economic strength is underpinned by its manufacturing prowess, predicated on a disciplined, skilled but relatively low-paid workforce. Hence the State's recent regulatory initiatives to improve employment conditions in response to growing labor unrest. In their introductory article, the coordinators of this Special Issue of the International Labour Review contextualize the contributions that follow by reviewing the broader debates on labor regulation in global production – particularly on “soft” vs “hard” regulation – and the changes that have occurred in China's labor markets, labor regulations, labor standards and labor relations over the past decade. They conclude with suggestions for further research.

VL - 153 L2 - eng CP - 4 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The Dynamics and Dilemma of Workplace Trade Union Reform in China: The Case of the Honda Workers’ Strike JF - Journal of Industrial Relations Y1 - 2012 A1 - Chris King-Chi Chan A1 - Elaine Sio-Ieng Hui KW - China KW - strike KW - trade union KW - workplace AB -

Based on a case study of the Honda workers’ strike and its impact on workplace industrial relations, this article explores the potential of and barriers to workplace trade union reform in China. A rise in workers’ collective actions has put political pressure on the All China Federation of Trade Unions to promote effective trade unionism and create a vital foundation for exercising democratic union representation in the workplace. The main barrier to effective workplace unionism, however, is the lack of external support for workers’ unionization efforts. On the one hand, the lower-level local trade unions fail to comply with their legal responsibility because of their bureaucratic nature and structural integration into the patron–client relationship between the local state and the global capital. On the other hand, support for workers from civil society is handicapped by the party-state’s opposition to independent labour organizing. This dilemma has forced the higher trade union federation to intervene directly in workplace trade union reform and promote state-led wage bargaining.

VL - 54 L2 - eng UR - http://chrischankc.com/sites/default/files/Chan%20and%20Hui--2012--JIR.pdf CP - 4 ER -