Steve Tu on Labor Laws in China

By Emily Conrad
​
Strong labor laws are seen as a necessity by most United States politicians; if workers are unhappy, politicians risk losing their seats at election time. In fact, labor laws, unionization, and political mobilization are often viewed hand-in-hand. In China, strong labor laws also take on extreme importance: labor laws maintain social stability – and social stability is to be maintained at all costs, as it is key to both China’s immense growth and the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party.   

Steve Tu (Chinese name: Tu Yong Qian) is a professor at Renmin University in Beijing and an expert in China’s labor laws, specializing in human capital finance and sci-tech financial law. He visited the Tsinghua-SAIS scholars program to discuss China’s economic transformation and the development of China’s current labor law system, delving into both its challenges and successes. While most of Professor Tu’s presentation focused on case studies, students were excited to ask him about the legal framework of such issues as male-female equality in the workplace, as well as the challenges presented by informal employment such as Uber (a system which has taken off in China.) We were able to speak with Professor Tu after class to ask him a few questions: 

涂永前教授谈中国劳动法

原茵供稿

中国人民大学劳动关系学院副教授涂永前老师来到青思智库的课堂，为智库成员介绍了中国劳动法体系及其发展，并点明了面临的机遇与挑战。

​智库成员也就中国劳动法框架及具体实践情况向涂永前老师进行提问。

Q: What do you think is the greatest legal challenge China has yet to face in regard to labor laws? 

A: I think that we need to focus more on how to protect employers’ rights. A lot of focus has been dedicated to protecting the rights of the employee, and the laws that we currently have sufficiently protect them. 

However, in present days, many Chinese potential employers chose to have their enterprises remain abroad in underdeveloped countries – partly because their relationships with the Chinese government are complicated. After thirty years of operating within developing China, many employers became wealthy through illegal actions and corruption. Thus, if the Chinese government would choose to implement laws strictly, repercussions from these enterprises’ past could potentially harm them. Thus, many choose to remain abroad. We need to have a sounder legal framework to protect them, as well as strengthening property laws.

Q: What is an example of a particularly successful law in China’s labor history?

A: In China, the economic opening began in 1978 and many laws were enacted in order to encourage the country’s economic development. Throughout the process, one of the challenges was not the laws themselves, but how to implement them well. In my opinion, one of the most successful laws was the Company Law of the early 1990s. Before the enactment of this law, people would hold ownership in a company, but without the law recognizing their investments in these companies. Their ownership was essentially nominal; not exactly real. The Company Law has been under revision several times since it was initially written, however it has established a very important legal framework. Nowadays, ownership in a company is more flexible and can be at a lower cost than ever before.

Q: For the Chinese government, social stability is of utmost importance, meaning that labor laws that protect workers take on a particularly significant role. Can you provide insights into this particular relationship?

A: Unfortunately, in China, most of us do not have the conscience to abide by law. A reason for this is the lack of faith and trust in government officials and the corruption which exists within the government. What we need to do in China is to erect a responsible authority which itself abides by the law. It is very important for a government to do this – and we need to construct a socialist country that works by a rule of law. 

A primary concern should be stamping out corruption. President Xi Jinping, the highest authority in China, certainly has the correct objective. However, we need to make this objective into a reality and create a new image of our government. 

问题：在劳动法方面，您认为中国面临最大的挑战是什么？

回答：我认为我们需要更多的关注雇主的权益保护。现有的法律较为关注如何保护劳动者的合法权利，但对雇主的权利保护不够。
  现在许多中国的企业家都选择在外国、尤其是欠发达国家建厂，这部分是由于企业家与处理与中国政府的关系中存在一些困难。所以我们需要建立完善的法律体系来保障他们的合法权利。

问题：在中国劳动法历史上，特别成功的例子有哪些？

回答：自1978年改革开放以来，陆续制定了许多法律来促进国家经济发展。现在关键的问题不是制定法律或是法律的具体内容，而是如何更好的贯彻执行这些法律。我认为最为成功的例子之一是90年代初制定的公司法。公司法制定之前，虽然人们有某公司的所有权，但法律上并不认可他们在这些公司的投资，他们的所有权其实是名义的。而公司法的出现则改变了这一状况，建立了一套重要的法律框架。现在，公司的所有权更为灵活，相关成本也更低。

问题：对于中国政府来说，社会稳定最为重要。所以旨在保护劳动者的劳动法也因而极为重要。您能就这两者的关系做一评论吗？

回答：在中国，许多人并没有遵守法律的亦是。这背后的一个原因是对政府官员的不信任及对政府内存在的腐败现象的警惕。我们真正需要做的是建立一个负责任并且遵守法律的政府和一个依法治国的国家。首要需要解决的是腐败问题。我们需要将习近平主席治理腐败的决心落在实处，创造政府更好的形象。