According to the author, in the late 1970s, Chinese industry was on the verge of collapse. Its high but erratic level of growth since 1949 had been achieved by using ever-increasing amounts of labour and capital. By 1978, the Chinese Communist Party leadership understood the economic problems...

Employment in the Chinese industrial state enterprise sector is multifaceted. The bulk consists of regular state workers. Quite apart from the recent contract workers, however, such employment also consists of members of large and small collectives for which the state enterprises is the patron...