최근 중국 노동/노사관계 해외 연구 동향 고찰 및 제언

This article conducts a critical literature review of China’s labor relations for the last 10 years and offers suggestions for further study. We focus on 66 articles published in six major industrial relations journals between 2009 and 2019. China watchers have witnessed fundamental changes in China’s labor relations since the early 2000s. Although various reports from research institutes, media, and private companies in Korea covered emerging issues in China’s labor relations, they did not fully address overall institutional changes and major issues in IR(such as major actors, wages and working conditions). Against this backdrop, this article seeks to offer an in-depth review of 66 articles which represent recent Western scholarship, from 2009 to 2019. Our analysis shows that the major topics addressed in recent studies include wildcat strike, labor protests, labor unions(ACFTU), new generation of migrant workers, collective consultation, labor NGOs, wage and working conditions, international comparative study, and Chinese companies’ IR in host countries. Methodologically, qualitative study was dominant(56 percent). Regarding research outlet, we found that IR journals have gradually become major outlets for studies of China’s labor relations. Regarding future research we suggest that more attention be paid to comparison of China and post-socialist countries, systematic analysis of Korean companies in China, sub-national variation in China’s labor relations, foreign company associations in China and their strategic choices, and new economy and its impact on China’s labor.