Economic reforms, industrial relations and human resources in the People's Republic of China: an overview

In this article, the impact of the post‐1978 economic reforms on the Chinese labour‐management system on the main sectors of employment (state, collective, private and joint ventures) is systematically discussed. The author concludes that as greater enterprise autonomy becomes more common, the labour‐management system will evolve into a more ‘marketised’ hybrid form albeit ‘with Chinese characteristics’.