Seven maintenance workers died and another two were hospitalised after being trapped in a waste water tank at a paper mill in the southern city of Dongguan on the evening of 15 February. All nine workers were poisoned by toxic fumes whilst inside the tank, according to official reports.

The number of coal mine deaths in China declined by 13.1 percent last year to stand at 333. The total number of accidents fell by just 0.9 percent to 224. The majority of these accidents involved less than ten fatalities, and officials noted that there had been no accidents involving more than 30 deaths for the last 25 months.

At least five Chinese labour activists have been detained in what appears to be a coordinated police crackdown late on the evening of 20 January.

Gender equality activists in China are calling on people from all over the country to send letters to legislators in Beijing calling for a new law against sexual harassment.

At least 21 miners died when the roof collapsed at a coal mine in the northern province of Shaanxi on 12 January, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

中国劳工通讯2018年记录的1701起工人集体行动当中，共有1246件（73.3%）发生于国内民企。这足以证明中国的劳资矛盾是国内企业不规范所致，而中华全国总工会（全总）在此有不可逃避的责任。

The Jasic dispute was just one of thousands of labour disputes in China to erupt this year. What made it noteworthy was the workers’ understanding of the broader economic and social context in which the dispute occurred and, in particular, the role of the trade union.

After a decade-long campaign for justice, a group of migrant workers from Leiyang, Hunan, have finally secured a commitment from the Shenzhen government to provide long-term economic compensation for the deadly lung disease, pneumoconiosis.