China

China’s economic reform has gradually transformed the country from a planned economy to a mixed economy with elements of both market mechanisms and central planning. The market-oriented reform has significantly changed China’s employment structure. It is impossible to understand Chinese employment relations without deep understanding of the Chinese government, or more accurately, the Party State. Despite the development of market, heavy and frequent state intervention is a key feature of the Chinese economy. The high degree of state regulation and intervention of the economy may contribute to China’s economic stability and strong growth during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, though unpredictable state economic intervention itself may also cause uncertainties in product markets. The All China Federation of Trade Union is the single, official union in China, which adopts a pyramidal, top-down structure of organization consisting of three tiers, i.e., the national, regional and primary levels. The Chinese labour dispute resolution system is characterized by ‘mediation, arbitration and two trials’.