Xu Lizhi died five years ago today. He left behind a remarkable body of work that chronicles not only his own frustrations and unhappiness but those of millions of other workers across China.

Large-scale factory worker protests are being replaced by small-scale, spontaneous actions in the construction, transport and service industries.

China will mark May Day this year with around 50 labour activists in some form of detention. CLB reiterates its call for the release of all activists and an end to the crackdown.

In our latest research report, we analyse the deeply ingrained and systemic problems affecting workers in China’s construction industry and suggest a way forward in the future.

A new report by CLB argues that the only way to resolve the decades-long problems endemic in China’s construction industry is through the creation of a sectoral trade union that can effectively bargain with industry bosses.

Of the 1,701 incidents recorded on CLB’s Strike Map in 2018, 1,246 occurred in domestic private enterprises. Evidence enough that labour unrest in China is very much a domestic problem, and one that requires a domestic solution.

Four months in, there has been a lot of talk about the Sino-US trade war but so far there has been no commensurate increase in collective action by China’s factory workers.