China’s economic reforms have brought the country both major international clout and widespread domestic prosperity. At the same time, the reforms have led to significant social upheaval, particularly manifest in labour relations. Each year, several thousand disputes break out over working...

China is experiencing rationalisation of state-owned enterprises and concomitant lay-offs, the emergence of collectively owned and domestic private enterprises, joint ventures and massive foreign investment; wide variations in working conditions on the coast and inland; and a large, unregistered...