attention on high profile cases of labor and environmental maltreatment has recently been cause of much discussion in China. China s labor market has been in the press internationally and to an increasing amount domestically for poor working conditions, default on wages, low wages, forced labor and other forms of abuse, not to mention the depletion of the environment which is contributing to health problems within the population while keeping production costs low. Unpaid wages and violation of employee rights have become an apparent problem within the labor market and are an indicator that the labor market is highly unregulated. A survey conducted by the Standing Committee of the National People s Congress (NPC) in 2005 found that 80% of private firms violate employee rights (China Daily). This is reinforced by figures for defaulted wages. Considering many cases of unpaid wages are not reported, an exact figure on default wages can only be estimated, as official data may be the tip of the iceberg. However, national data on defaulted wages from the state regulated construction industry may illustrate the enormity of the problem: 278 billion yuan (2001), 336.5 billion yuan (2002), 367 billion yuan (2004) (Chan, 2005). Data for 2001 indicates that private companies are especially prone to disputes, being involved in far higher numbers than state-owned companies (Cai, Wang and Du, 2005). The negative trend of rising labor disputes has been increasing over the years indicating that the Chinese labor market is facing significant challenges and discontent among its labor force. As with figures for defaulted wages, the official data may only be an indicator for a much greater national problem.in aggregate terms China s massive population has enjoyed significant benefits during the government reform efforts it has become clear that the rapid GDP growth has come with a price tag and that workers rights are not being adequately protected. As inequality is growing and benefits of the reform effort are unevenly distributed among the population, discontent about unfair treatment is on the rise. World Bank and Asian Development Data show that the Gini coefficient has dramatically risen from 0.16 in 1978 to 47.3 in 2006 giving China one of the regions highest growth rates for at least the last decade. In response to this the government has, at least on paper, taken action to increase its efforts to somewhat shift the imbalance between capital and labor.exploitation of natural resources and labor could otherwise backfire threatening the country s tremendous economic development. At present, many economic costs are externalized by the industry at the cost of the public. In how far this policy has contributed to the enormous growth and impressive development of the Chinese economy would require furthe...
