ABSTRACT
The once state-controlled and state sector-dominant personnel administrative system of China has been through a period of profound change as a result of the political and economic reforms experienced in the past two and a half decades. This chapter first provides a historical overview of the personnel system in the past five decades or so since the founding of Socialist China in 1949. Much of it is related to the state sector, because the state has been the major employer in the past and because SOEs and public sector organizations are the areas where HRM has experienced the most radical changes in recent years under the economic and social welfare reforms. The chapter then outlines the institutional environment for the growth of the private sector since the late 1970s and the characteristics of the employment policy and practice in these private ownership forms. In particular, the chapter focuses on foreign investments, domestic private firms, and the township and village enterprises. The characteristics of the labour market, the framework of employment legislation, and the (welfare) role of the trade unions and the Workers’ Representatives Congress are also discussed. This chapter serves as a backdrop for the more thematic discussions of HRM, work and employment in China in subsequent chapters.
