What are recent trends in labor strikes and worker protests across China since 2022?
Executive summary
Since 2022 China has seen a marked uptick in worker collective action: recorded strikes and protests surged in 2023 after the end of strict COVID policies, with NGOs and trackers reporting sharp year‑on‑year increases concentrated in manufacturing, construction and the platform economy [1] [2] [3]. The rise is uneven and shaped by economic distress—property-sector collapse, unpaid wages and platform precarity—while state and official institutions respond with a mix of rapid mediation, targeted repression and selective concessions [4] [1] [5].
1. Scale and trajectory: a steep rebound after pandemic anomalies
Multiple monitoring projects documented a pronounced rebound in industrial unrest in 2023, with China Labour Bulletin’s Strike Map and allied analyses reporting a large increase in recorded incidents—one widely cited tally puts total worker protests in 2023 at 1,794, a 216 percent increase on 2022, and other compilations note factory strikes rising from the dozens in 2022 to the hundreds in 2023 [1] [6] [2]. Independent media coverage also highlighted that factory strikes “trebled” in early 2023 compared with all of 2022, demonstrating that the post‑Zero‑COVID reopening coincided with renewed willingness and opportunity to protest [3].
2. Sectoral shifts: manufacturing returns while construction and platforms explode
The pattern is not a simple continuation of pre‑pandemic trends: after a dip in factory strikes around 2016–2021, 2023 saw a sharp rise in manufacturing walkouts alongside a surge in construction wage disputes and platform‑worker actions; CLB and other observers report manufacturing strikes rising tenfold from 2022 and at least 945 wage‑related protests by migrant construction workers in 2023 [2] [1]. Simultaneously, the growth of e‑commerce and ride‑hailing has expanded a large pool of precarious “self‑employed” platform workers whose disputes have produced new forms of collective action [1] [2].
3. Geography and industry concentration: coasts and construction hotspots
Recorded incidents cluster in coastal manufacturing belts—Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas—and in second‑ and third‑tier cities where property developers shifted projects, exporting wage‑arrears risks to inland construction sites; CLB’s analysis ties construction protests to the geographic spread of troubled real‑estate projects [2] [4]. NGO mapping projects that rely on social media reporting similarly show concentrated pockets of unrest rather than an even national wave [7] [8].
4. Underlying drivers: economics, employer defaults and the gig squeeze
The proximate causes are largely economic: slowing growth, developer crises (Evergrande, Sunac etc.), unpaid or delayed wages and layoffs have pushed defensive workplace actions, while platform expansion has intensified job insecurity for millions of drivers and couriers—data cited by proponents of the trend point to rapid growth in ride‑hailing platforms and drivers in 2023 as a stressor [1] [6] [4].
5. State and employer responses: a mix of repression, mediation and tactical concessions
Available reporting documents a dual state strategy: quick intervention by unions and labor bureaus to mediate disputes and broker limited settlements is common, but so are warnings, policing and detention when protests threaten production or spill into public spaces; case reporting includes government‑backed mediation that favors employers as well as police threats against disruptive actions [2] [5]. Analysts note this “two steps forward, one step back” dynamic: responsiveness and repression operate side‑by‑side [5].
6. Data limits, visibility bias and what remains unknown
All headline counts come with caveats: strike maps and trackers rely heavily on domestic social media and fragmentary reporting, so they capture only a slice of activity and are skewed toward incidents that generate online attention; CLB itself warns its maps undercount incidents and reflect methodological limits [8] [4]. That means trends are best read as indications of an upswing in visible, often urban and coastal events rather than a complete national census of worker unrest.
7. Outlook: conditional escalation or containment depending on economics and control
The trajectory through 2024–25 will likely hinge on macroeconomic pain points and how far platform and construction precarity deepen: if unpaid wages and closures persist, expect continued sectoral flare‑ups, but the state’s capacity for rapid mediation and targeted repression—documented in academic and NGO reports—gives authorities tools to contain contagion while conceding limited wins that defuse larger mobilization [1] [5] [2].