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Abstract
The state of human resources in China's construction industry presents significant problems for the national economy and for the efficiency of the construction industry. This paper considers policy and practical questions for improving the quality and efficiency of the large rural workforce in construction. Labourers from rural areas form 90% of the national workforce, yet 90% of them lack any formal job training. The existing problems besetting labourers from rural areas include low-quality outputs, low wages, poor living and working conditions, and high mobility. The proposed remedy needs to include: training provisions for labourers from rural areas to improve their working skills and overall quality; creating organized labour to increase the stability of the workforce; creating a proper labour-cost system; and developing a more complete labour market. Some privately owned Chinese construction companies are setting an example of innovative leadership in improving training and working conditions for labourers from rural areas and consequently are benefiting from increased profits.
Acknowledgements
Research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. Y2001H01). The authors are grateful for the comments of three anonymous referees and the Editor on a previous version of this paper.
Notes
1LRAs are a special group with many features that could not be found in other countries. They work as casual labourers in cities throughout the year, but belong to an ‘agricultural population’ rather than to a ‘non-agricultural population’. They make a great contribution to the development of urban areas but cannot enjoy the same rights and treatment that urban residents have. Most LRAs lead a migratory bird-like life: living alone away from home most of the time, they are at home only in the busy farming season and/or at the Chinese traditional New Year or the Spring Festival.
2Article 90 of China's Constitution promulgated in 1954 stipulated that citizens had the right to change their residence freely. On 9 January 1958, however, the Standing Committee of National People's Congress promulgated the Regulation on Residence Management and Registration. It stipulated that citizens who moved from the countryside to cities must have one of the following three certificates: (1) that of employment by a labour administration of a city, (2) that of admission by a university or a special middle school and (3) that of approval for moving by a residence registration administration of a city. The citizens' right to change their residence freely stipulated in the Constitution of 1954 then ceased to be effective.
3China has a current population of 1.3 billion, but only limited cultivated land, less than 133.32 million ha. Its per-capita cultivated land is 0.1 ha, far below the global average of 0.25 ha. What makes this situation even grimmer is that 666 counties, constituting 33.7% of the national total, failed to reach the critical mark of 0.05 ha for per-capita cultivated land established by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
4Shandong Province has a population of more than 90 million, i.e. about 7% of China's population, while the territory of the province is 157 000 km2, or 1.63% of China's territory. Jiangsu Province is the most densely populated with more than 73 million population and 1.05% of China's territory.
5There are various quota systems in China's building sector: the Ministry of Construction promulgated the General Quota for Cost Estimating, while each province has its own quota system. Even within the same province, each district derives its local quota system from the provincial one because of difference in prices.
6This company merged with a large-scale, state-owned enterprise, Chongqing No. 1 Construction Company, spending 30.6 million Yuan in 1998, and another large-scale, state-owned enterprise, Beijing No. 2 Construction Company, spending 33.6 million Yuan in 2002. These mergers further strengthened the company's resolve to intensify vocational training.