Active labour market policies in China – towards improved labour protection?

Abstract

This article offers a critical evaluation of the development of labour market policies in China. It argues that although active labour market policies (ALMPs) in China have been extended in response to the changing labour market and emerging labour conflicts, they have not replaced passive labour market policies (PLMPs). While the laid-off state-owned enterprise (SOE) workers’ protests have compelled the government to introduce ALMPs targeting the SOE workers in the 1990s, protection of rural-to-urban migrant workers is minimal. In recent years, however, both ALMPs and PLMPs have been extended to migrant workers due to the recurrence of labour shortages. This, however, has led to new problems such as the massive exploitation of student interns. The impact of ALMPs on the migrant workers’ rights is uncertain due to the patchy implementation and a lack of monitoring to policies enforcement.

Keywords:

• China
• labour
• active labour market policies
• workfare
• social security
• student interns

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Erratum

Notes

1. In the mid-1990s, in order to pacify laid-off SOE workers, the state and All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) introduced a series of retraining and welfare programmes to help the urban workers. See Hurst and O'Brien (2002) and Cai (2006).

2. This statement was included in the official documents of the government's employment policy and also in the Employment Promotion Law of PRC in 2008.

3. The data in this section were taken from the website of the MOLSS, PRC (Develop labor security affairs, enhance people's welfare: Tian Chenping's speech on the main achievement in social security from the Sixteenth National Congress). See Tian (2007).

4. This section is based on the work of Liang (2011) and an analysis report from CLB (2012). Miss Liang is a labour NGO project officer who is responsible for a student intern's organizing project. CLB is a Hong Kong-based NGO that advocates for workers’ rights in China.

5. This is based on the first author's fieldwork. For the detail of the Honda case, see Chan and Hui (2012).