{
  "id": "RL31164",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31164",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 100988,
      "date": "2001-10-15",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:19:53.148941",
      "title": "China: Labor Conditions and Unrest",
      "summary": "China's labor conditions have become a key variable affecting its domestic politics and\neconomic policies, U.S. human rights policies toward China, and U.S.-China trade. Deepening\neconomic reforms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) since the early 1990s have imposed\nhardships upon many urban industrial workers, who were once among the most\neconomically-privileged social classes in the country. While raising living standards for many\nChinese, the reforms have eroded the material well-being and job security of many workers in\nstate-owned enterprises (SOEs). Bankruptcies of many SOEs have led to an unprecedented urban\nunemployment rate of between 10% and 20%. Consequently, labor demonstrations and protests have\nbecome a frequent occurrence in some Chinese cities. Many experts predict that China's entry into\nthe World Trade Organization will lead to even more plant closings, economic dislocation, social\nunrest, and opposition to reforms. In addition, egregious labor rights violations have reportedly\ntaken place in many factories operated by foreign investors in China's export zones.\n  The Chinese government has attempted to implement laws and programs that protect labor\nrights and provide social welfare benefits while punishing labor rights activists and independent\nunion organizers. Labor demonstrations generally have been localized and their goals have been\neconomic rather than politically-motivated. Nonetheless, the PRC government is worried about the\npotential social and political effects of continued or growing labor unrest. \n  U.S. Congressional goals and concerns regarding Chinese labor include supporting labor rights\nin China and preventing the import of goods from the PRC that were made from prison, sweatshop,\nor child labor.  P.L. 106-286 , authorizing permanent normal trade relations treatment (PNTR) to the\nPRC, establishes a Congressional-Executive Commission on the PRC to monitor China's\ncompliance with international human rights standards, including worker rights. Furthermore,\nChina's entry into the World Trade Organization is likely to benefit some Chinese economically\nwhile hurting others, thereby generating some resistence in China to complying with WTO\nagreements. Some experts and Members of Congress argue that Chinese workers lack basic rights\nand have become more exploited under market-oriented reforms. Others contend that U.S. trade and\ninvestment have improved the lives of many Chinese workers, helped to created a new middle class\nwith progressive political values, and produced a large market for American goods.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31164",
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Asian Affairs",
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}