Abstract
Reviewing recent labour developments and trade union policy shifts in historical perspective, this article explores the role of trade unions in China’s efforts to promote a “harmonious society”. The much-criticized “top-down” approach associated with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, however, has led to growing pressure “from below”, as evidenced by the recent increase in the number of strikes. With an emergent new role for trade unions, the authors argue, an employment relations system “with Chinese characteristics” is now institutionally embedded in the People’s Republic.