Presentation of Employment and Social Protection Reforms in China (1998–1999)

At a time when China is about to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) following an accelerated and impressive track-record in economic development, an opening-up to post-industrial capitalism, and reflection about human development and reconciling market economy rules with the guarantee of a vital minimum for all – these all now appear as so many components in the Chinese paradox at the dawn of the 21’st century. In fact with the transformation in course from the “iron rice bowl” to the “earthenware rice bowl”, the construction of a new society and a new identity is at stake because the “Danwei” is now no longer the only and permanent location, obligatory but reassuring, for socialising the individual and taking him/her into the total charge of the State. One sees the rising unemployment linked to the restructuring of the State corporations, and an increasing imbalance between the rich coastal regions and the poor rural provinces in the interior of the country, with these factors linked to disparities in investment. This disengagement by the State is progressively accompanied by replacement policies whose formats often result from various combinations of those already introduced in the more developed countries – following adaptations of the best of them to the Chinese context. Measures for employment and a new social protection system, described in this article, have been drawn up since creation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection in 1998.