Our 10 most recent articles.
Beijing official makes a big show of understanding gig workers
An otherwise unremarkable government official, Wang Lin, has become an unexpected internet celebrity. A video featuring the middle-aged, bespectacled Wang moonlighting as a driver for food delivery giant Meituan has gone viral and reignited discussion on the pay and conditions of workers in the gig economy.
06 May 2021
Government report documents migrant worker struggles in 2020
China’s rural migrant worker population fell by 5.2 million last year as the Covid-19 pandemic and attendant economic slowdown led to job losses and wage stagnation.
05 May 2021
Worker activist detained while the official trade union sits on its hands
China’s best-known food delivery worker activist, Chen Guojiang, was detained on 25 February and has been held at Beijing’s Chaoyang district detention centre since. In mid-March, his family was formally notified that Chen is accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (寻衅滋事), the catch-all charge used by the authorities to crack down on activists. He was formally arrested on 2 April.
07 April 2021
Food delivery worker activist accused of “picking quarrels”
Food delivery worker, Chen Guojiang has been accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (寻衅滋事), the catch-all charge used by the authorities to crackdown on activists.
25 March 2021
A Tale of Two Deltas: Worker resistance in Guangdong and Jiangsu
A review of the newly published book by Manfred Elfstrom, Workers and Change in China: Resistance, Repression, and Responsiveness.
23 March 2021
As China's economy recovers, the burden on workers increases
China was one of few countries that managed a reasonable economic recovery during the Covid-19 pandemic that began last year. However, China’s workers are yet to see their share, and, for many, wage levels and working conditions have deteriorated.
03 February 2021
Collective protests decline but worker grievances remain unresolved
China’s economic slowdown, combined with rapidly shifting patterns of employment and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in a marked decline in the number of collective protests by workers last year.
27 January 2021
Migrant workers hit hardest by job losses in 2020
China boasted a robust economic recovery following the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, but official statistics confirm that rural migrant workers, who make up more than one-third of the working population, suffered severe job losses and saw incomes stagnate.
19 January 2021
Employee deaths put China’s tech sector under further scrutiny
An engineer employed at e-commerce platform Pinduoduo reportedly jumped to his death on Saturday, 9 January, after unexpectedly returning home on leave. It was the second sudden death of a Pinduoduo employee in ten days, highlighting the extreme pressure faced by workers in China’s ultra-competitive tech sector.
11 January 2021
An introduction to China Labour Bulletin's Workers’ Calls-for-Help Map
China Labour Bulletin has, since September 2020, collected notable calls for help from workers and added them to a new database.
26 November 2020