Publications

In a new article, “China’s Low-Cost Model Is Locked In,” China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang examines why China’s longstanding model of low-cost manufacturing has become increasingly difficult to reform, even as its economic and social costs grow. Beginning with the July 2026 factory fire in Jinjiang, Fujian, which killed at least 28 people, the article argues that weak labor and safety enforcement reflects a deeper structural conflict. Local governments are responsible for enforcing labor protections, yet they also…

In a new article for The Hill, titled “Chinese Firms Can’t Get Away With Abusing Workers Overseas,” China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang examines how overseas labor rights are becoming an increasingly important factor shaping China’s globalization—and a growing policy tool for the United States and its allies to promote responsible supply chains. As Chinese companies expand abroad, they face not only commercial competition, but also independent trade unions, labor inspectorates, judicial systems, a free press, and civil society…

On June 4, 2026, China Labor Watch Executive Director Li Qiang published an op-ed titled “Tiananmen Is Not Just China’s Story.” The article argues that the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown reinforced a political system that in turn shaped a labor and economic model that fueled China’s rise as a manufacturing powerhouse while suppressing independent worker organizing. The piece contends that the consequences of this model have extended far beyond China, influencing global supply chains, labor standards, and the competitive pressures faced…