Unions Protect Migrant Workers

Our story goes back to late April 2006, just before May Day. In Beijing, a local newspaper reported that at a construction site, migrant workers from poor rural villages across China were often given leftovers to eat as their employer tried by every possible means to reduce the cost. The news report instantly aroused public indignation, and Cui Ruilan, a local union leader, felt uneasy about what had     

Leisure Pursuits for Migrant Workers

IT’S 7pm, and knocking-off time for laborers on a building site in southwest Beijing. Clearly ex hausted, they chat companion ably on the road home. Two o them, Hu Bing and Yan Chenghai, are from the same town in Hebei province Hu is 25 years old, and regards Yan three years his junior, as his didi, o younger brother. The previous evening they spent three hours playing pool Yan, to his shame, lost every game. Hav ing agreed that the loser should pay fo a RMB 0 mutton barbecue, Hu bough…     

Where Are the Workers?

A year ago, bosses at some companies in the Pearl River Delta in south China, a hub for exportoriented small and medium-sized enterprises, were forced to cut labor forces due to dwindling orders in     

Migrant Workers： Urban Underclass

ACCORDING to official statistics, there are now 130 million (equivalent to half the American population) migrant workers in Chinese cities. This means that China has more migrant than urban workers, and that they constitute the main Chinese industrial workforce. To those familiar with China, this phenomenon is an important signal for social change. The term farmer carries quite different connotations in China from what it does in the West, where farming is a profession taken up by well-educated people and involves large-scale mechanical production. Also known as agricultural industrial workers, fanners have a social status equal to that of urban dwellers. In China, being a fanner is synonymous with low social status. Chinese fanners have a comparatively poor education and live on a small patch of farmland (per capita farmland is less than 1 mu, 1 mu = 1/15 hectare). Some farmers work in non-agricultural industries, or go to cities as migrant workers, but do not enjoy the same political rights and social     

Are Train Ticket-Snatching Apps Fair?

With the approach of the Chinese Lunar New Year,also known as the Spring Festival,the rush to book train tickets for traveling back home or elsewhere during the weeklong holiday from February 4 to 10 has begun.To avoid queuing for long periods or the online traffic jams,tech-savvy buyers have turned to add-ons,plug-ins and other software applications to improve their chances of grabbing tickets.     

Shanghai’s Hukou System Reform

CHINA＇s financial center Shanghai recently aroused wide attention with its new hukou policy, which allows some non-locals to apply for permanent residency in the city.     

Government Buys Jobs For Laid-off Workers

Lu Yun rejoices that she did not hesitate to take the job as a community patrol a year ago. "Had I refused to take up the job, there would have been no opportunity at all to find a job now," she said. In 2001, the Dalian city government bought a number of jobs of public welfare in nature, including patrols in communities. However, many people were reluctant to take them at the time, leaving several hundred vacancies. Lu Yun, 48, was laid off by the Dalian Department Store four years ago. She applied and was given the job. Although the monthly salary is only 400 yuan, she took to like it. "I can enjoy old-age insurance and medical insurance,"     

Are TCM Courses Suitable For Pupils?

<正>The education authorities in east China’s Zhejiang Province have released a set of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)textbooks for elementary school students,the first of their kind on the Chinese mainland,and now require elementary schools to teach TCM knowledge to pupils in a bid to enhance younger generations’awareness of traditional ways of living and keeping fit.     

Like It or Lump Migrant Workers in Beijing

LURED by better living and working conditions, huge numbers of Chinese farmers leave their rural homes for the city. Their education having generally ended at junior middle school, they have little choice but to take up poorly paid manual labor. This they do uncomplainingly as it is preferable to eking out a living in the countryside.     

Are Informal Settlements the Answer to Urban Migrant Influx?

Informal Settlements are ok in China's big cities.That's the opinion of Qin Hui,a professor of history at China's prestigious Tsinghua University.Speaking at a recent public forum on urbanization in Shenzhen     

Are Celebrities Criminally Responsible For Deceptive Advertising?

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce recently said it has suggested the addition of an article in the Advertising Law to make celebrities who represent fake products in deceptive advertising criminally responsible for their actions if it is confirmed as a crime.Up to now,those who have endorsed products have only been required to bear administrative and civil responsibilities.     

Zhejiang Keen to Protect Migrant Workers＇ Rights and Interests

EDITOR'S NOTE: Following are some of the stories about how migrant workers' rights and interests are protected in Zhejiang, one of the best developed province on the Chinese mainland. Through interviews with more than 100 migrant workers in the province, we found that migrant workers there enjoy equal treatment as their counterparts registered as urban residents, and that their rights and interests are effectively protected.     

CASS： Women Migrant Workers Paid Less Than Their Male Counterparts

Female migrant workers are paid considerably less than their male counterparts, according to the recent report Gender Differences in the Migrant Workers＇ Market. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences （CASS） carried out a survey in Dalian, Shanghai, Wu- han, Shenzhen and Chongqing. Among the 2,398 migrant workers surveyed, 52 percent were female, with an average age of 28.1, The average age of male respondents was 30.3. The survey found female workers＇ average monthly salary ts RMB 910.78, RMB 200 lower than men＇s. As well as being paid more, male workers spend longer periods in the city-one and half years on average.     

Should Home Buying Be Tied to Hukou?

<正>Responding to the recent frenetic rise in house prices,the Central Government in January announced eight new regulations     

Are Luxury Housing Billboards the Scapegoat For High House Prices?

Beijing is festooned with gigantic billboards extolling the virtues of luxurious accommodation and leaving no doubt that a prestigious address is a symbol of     

Jie Hongyun：Hukou Points System and a Dream of Permanent Urban Residency

EARLIER this year, Jie Hongyun and her family com- pleted the official procedures necessary to register their permanent residence in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. She thus realized her dreamof becoming a citizen of the city.     

A Turning Point?

Russia’s new proposal on the Syrian crisis raises hope amid the uncertainty U.S.President Barack Obama’s embrace of the Russian suggestion to put Syrian chemical weapons under international control has brought a temporary sense of relief to the international community.The seemingly     

Lost and Found: For Free or For a Fee?

Recently,a company dealing in lost-and-found property started up in Nanjing. Company employees say lost property is sent to the company by finders such as dustmen, who can receive 30 percent of a finder’s fee.