The northeastern province of Shandong has ordered the closure of all non-coal mining operations in response to two major accidents at gold mines that killed at least 16 miners, state media reported.

A taxi driver from the central city of Xuchang has sued the local newspaper and the municipal transport authorities for 3,000 yuan each, plus costs, accusing them of colluding with the city’s cab companies to extort management fees from drivers.

China’s economic slowdown, combined with rapidly shifting patterns of employment and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in a marked decline in the number of collective protests by workers last year. 

China boasted a robust economic recovery following the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, but official statistics confirm that rural migrant workers, who make up more than one-third of the working population, suffered severe job losses and saw incomes stagnate.

One month after 23 workers died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a Chongqing coal mine, China’s State Administration of Coal Mine Safety announced that 2020 had been one of the safest years on record for the industry, with no “exceptionally serious” accidents.

An engineer employed at e-commerce platform Pinduoduo reportedly jumped to his death on Saturday, 9 January, after unexpectedly returning home on leave. It was the second sudden death of a Pinduoduo employee in ten days, highlighting the extreme pressure faced by workers in China’s ultra-competitive tech sector.

Thousands of temporary workers staged a mass protest outside the Pegatron factory in Shanghai on 19 December after managers at the Taiwan-owned electronics company ordered them to relocate to another facility in Kunshan.

For the first time in over a decade, none of China’s provinces and regions announced a minimum wage increase this year, and several regions implemented an official minimum wage freeze.