Ten maintenance workers were killed and 12 rescue workers were injured during an accident at a pharmaceutical factory in the eastern province of Shandong on 15 April.

There have been at least six protests by express delivery company employees in the last two weeks over a wide-range of issues including lay-offs, wage arrears, social insurance and equal pay for equal work.

Just ten days after the massive explosion at a chemical plant in Jiangsu that killed at least 78 people, another explosion at a factory in the same province has killed seven people and injured another five, one critically.

A group of about one hundred pneumoconiosis workers from Hunan were stopped from traveling to Shenzhen to show their support for Wei Zhili, the recently detained editor of New Generation, an online media which had been supporting their decades-long struggle for a fair compensation for their occupational illness.

Trade unions and civil society organizations in Hong Kong are demanding the Chinese government immediately halt its suppression of the workers’ movement and release all detained labour activists.

At least 47 dead, over 90 people severely injured in a massive explosion on Thursday afternoon at a pesticide plant in Xiangshui county, Jiangsu province.

In response to the slowing economy and the threat of higher unemployment, China has vowed to put “employment first” and create around 11 million new jobs this year.

The pension contribution rate of employers in China will be reduced from a ceiling of 20 percent to 16 percent of the overall wage bill, as part of a wide-ranging package of new measures designed to ease the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises.