ABSTRACT

China has one of the largest labour forces in the world with a population of nearly 1.3 billion, over half of whom were in employment in 2002. About two-thirds of them are rural workers. China also has one of the highest labour participation rates in the world (over 80 per cent). As one of the largest exporting countries and the second largest beneficiary country of foreign direct investments (FDIs), China presents itself as one of the economically most important nations in the world. However, China’s increasing interdependence with the world economy has been achieved through a period of political, social and economic change over the past twenty-five years. A major implication of these profound changes is how employment is (re-)organized and work experienced by its 0.7 billion workers (see Tables 1.1 and 1.2). Indeed, the employment landscape has changed significantly over the past two decades in at least three major dimensions.