Migrant workers present a new challenge both to China's increasingly diversified industrial relations and to its state-society relationship, especially vis-à-vis China's developmental state. Through an examination of the situation of migrant workers in the country's labour-intensive foreign investment enterprises, this article argues that it is difficult to establish tripartite industrial relations in China and that pluralistic labour organizations will not easily develop into civil society type labour entities. China's developmental state is in an ambiguous process in redefining its role. Its ability to micro-manage society is weakening substantially. However, its developmental character at the macro-level largely remains strong, allowing it to continue to restrict progress towards civil society. The future will ultimately depend on a collective determination by key players - the workers, unions and the state - to find a compromise. © Institute of Social Studies 2004. Published by Blackwell Publishing.

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working conditions World China trade union Eurasia Far East labor relations Eastern Hemisphere migrant worker Asia