ABSTRACT
Marginalisation of Chinese contract workers cannot be separated from changes in the overall labour market system in China. Overseas labour services have widely been recognised as an important means for developing countries such as China not only to earn foreign exchange and utilise labour resources, but also to alleviate unemployment and promote domestic economic growth. However, little is known about the costs to overseas contract workers of finding employment abroad. This chapter focuses on the costs and benefits to overseas contract workers while employed abroad and it argues that those costs and benefits are unevenly distributed. It reveals linkages between globalisation and the marginalisation of Chinese contract workers in overseas labour service provision, a newly-emerging industry in China. The marginality of Chinese contract workers cannot be understood in isolation from the establishment and development of an overseas labour service market in China.
