An executive at Mitsubishi Materials (Shanghai) Corp on Tuesday accepted a document requesting compensation of 370 million yuan ($60.2 million) for forced laborers used by Japan during World War II. “The executive promised to keep and hand over the document to Mitsubishi’s headquarters in Japan after half an hour’s dispute, with the presence of some Chinese and Japanese media,” said Kang Jian, a lawyer for the alliance groups representing forced [...]

China is working to guarantee the basic rights of workers through amending laws, expanding trade unions and promoting fair payment, says a government report Tuesday. The country has amended a number of laws related to workers’ rights including the Labor Contract Law and the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Occupational Diseases, says the report titled “Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2012″ issued by the Information Office of [...]

Eliminating job discrimination is a tough task Four years ago, emulating an Australian global competition for the “Best Job in the World,” a lavender farm in Guangdong province launched a national search for two gardeners for the “The Best Jobs in China”. The requirements of Tourism and Events Queensland were simple: It wanted a caretaker for a local tropical island who could speak English, swim and blog. But the Guangdong [...]

The Chinese government on Friday released draft regulations relating to foreigners’ entry and residence in China and what is regarded as illegal entry, stay or work in the country. Foreigners must obtain work permits and residence certificates for employment before being employed, the draft says. It shall be considered as illegal employment if a foreign student works beyond the time limit or scope of their work-study program, according to the [...]

The Shanghai Labor Union and the Shanghai Bar Association in Zhabei district have sponsored a series of events in the run-up to Wednesday’s International Labor Day holiday to build awareness about the gaps in worker rights, the Shanghai Evening Post reported. The organizations held the events in Xuhui, Zhabei and Fengxian districts, along with Pudong New Area, to educate the public and provide legal aid to workers who have encountered [...]

Li Baozhong has been busy rehearsing his dance moves for a performance to be given during the May Day holiday. The 24-year-old migrant worker is a dance instructor at the Migrant Workers’ Home, a cultural center established by and for migrant workers in the village of Picun in suburban Beijing. “It (the cultural center) will not start to warm up until the evening, when nearby workers finish their shifts,” Li [...]

Summary: A record high of nearly 7 million people graduated from universities last year, but with a very grim economic outlook, there are scant employment opportunities. Many who had come away empty-handed at job fair in the autumn had banked on better prospects in the spring. However, the situation is now even worse. This year has been the most difficult for soon-to-be university graduates looking for a job. The number [...]

Labor costs and labor shortages are the biggest risks facing US firms in China and air pollution has become one of the negative factors driving expatriates out of China, the head of a US business group said Wednesday. Speaking at the release in Beijing of the 2013 State of American Business in China White Paper, Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China), said one [...]

Summary: Total profits from 208 SOEs last year trailed the salaries they paid their employees. SOE employees also make much more on average than their counterparts in the private sector. Total profits from 208 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in 2012 exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan. Meanwhile, salaries paid to their employees topped 5.1 trillion yuan, far exceeding profits. Data from Hexin Flush Information (同花顺) showed that the centrally administered SOEs that are [...]

Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing company Foxconn Technology Group will produce robots in a new robot industrial park amid an upsurge of robot production and use worldwide, but analysts said Thursday that increasing use of robots will not totally replace human labor. Foxconn will build the park together with the Harbin Economic-Technological Development Zone in Harbin, capital of Northeast China’s Heilong­jiang Province, with construction set to begin May 1, and the park [...]