Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China

(Adopted at the Fifth Session of the Seventh National People’s
Congress on April 3, 1992 and promulgated by Order No.57 of the
President of the People’s Republic of China on April 3, 1992;
amended in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Trade Union
Law of the People’s Republic of China adopted at the 24th Meeting
of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People’s Congress
on October 27, 2001)  

Contents 

Chapter I      General Provisions 

Chapter II     Trade Union Organizations
 

Chapter III    Rights and Obligations of Trade Unions
 

Chapter IV     Basic-level Trade Union
Organizations 

Chapter V      Trade Union Funds and
Property 

Chapter VI     Legal Liabilities 

Chapter VII    Supplementary Provisions 

Chapter I  General Provisions 

Article 1 This Law is enacted in accordance with the
Constitution of the People’s Republic of China with a view to
ensuring the status of trade unions in the political, economic and
social life of the State, defining their rights and obligations and
bringing into play their role in the socialist modernization
drive. 

Article 2 Trade unions are mass organizations of the
working class formed by the workers and staff members on a
voluntary basis. 

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions and all the trade union
organizations under it represent the interests of the workers and
staff members and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of
the workers and staff members according to law. 

Article 3 All manual and mental workers in enterprises,
institutions and government departments within the territory of
China who rely on wages or salaries as their main source of income,
irrespective of their nationality, race, sex, occupation, religious
belief or educational background, have the right to organize or
join trade unions according to law. No organizations or individuals
shall obstruct or restrict them. 

Article 4 Trade unions shall observe and safeguard the
Constitution, take it as the fundamental criterion for their
activities, take economic development as the central task, uphold
the socialist road, the people’s democratic dictatorship,
leadership by the Communist Party of China, and Marxist-Leninism,
Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, persevere in reform
and the open policy, and conduct their work independently in
accordance with the Constitution of trade unions.  

The National Congress of Trade Unions formulates or amends the
Constitution of Trade Unions of the People’s Republic of China,
which shall not contravene the Constitution of the People’s
Republic of China or other laws. 

The State protects the legitimate rights and interests of trade
unions from violation. 

Article 5 Trade unions shall organize and conduct education
among workers and staff members in order that they shall, in
accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the People’s
Republic of China and other laws, give play to their role as
masters of the country and participate in various ways and forms in
the administration of State affairs, management of economic and
cultural undertakings and handling of social affairs; trade unions
shall assist the people’s governments in their work and safeguard
the socialist State power under the people’s democratic
dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of
workers and peasants. 

Article 6 The basic duties and functions of trade unions
are to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of workers and
staff members. While protecting the overall interests of the entire
Chinese people, trade unions shall represent and safeguard the
legitimate rights and interests of workers and staff
members. 

Trade unions shall coordinate labor relations and safeguard the
rights and interests enjoyed in work by the workers and staff
members of enterprises through consultation at an equal footing and
the collective contract system. 

Trade unions shall, in accordance with the provisions of laws
and through the congresses of the workers and staff members or
other forms, organize the workers and staff members to participate
in democratic decision-making and management of and democratic
supervision over their own work units. 

Trade unions shall maintain close ties with workers and staff
members, solicit and voice their opinions and demands, show concern
for their everyday life, help them solve their difficulties and
serve them wholeheartedly. 

Article 7 Trade unions shall mobilize and organize workers
and staff members to take an active part in economic development
and to strive to fulfill their tasks in production and other work.
Trade unions shall educate workers and staff members constantly in
the need to improve their ideological, ethical, technical,
professional, scientific and cultural qualities, in order to build
a contingent team of well-educated and self-disciplined workers and
staff members with lofty ideals and moral integrity. 

Article 8 The All-China Federation of Trade Unions shall,
on the principle of independence, equality, mutual respect and
non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, strengthen
friendly and cooperative relations with trade union organizations
of other countries. 

Chapter II  Trade Union Organizations 

Article 9 Trade union organizations at various levels shall
be established according to the principle of democratic
centralism. 

Trade union committees at various levels shall be democratically
elected at members’ assemblies or members’ congresses. No close
relatives of the chief members of an enterprise may be candidates
for members of the basic-level trade union committee of the
enterprise. 

Trade union committees at various levels shall be accountable,
and report their work, to the members’ assemblies or members’
congresses at their respective levels and be subjected to their
supervision as well. 

Trade union members’ assemblies or congresses shall have the
right to remove or recall the representatives or members of trade
union committees they elected. 

A trade union organization at a higher level shall exercise
leadership over a trade union organization at a lower
level. 

Article 10 A basic-level trade union committee shall be set up
in an enterprise, an institution or a government department with a
membership of twenty-five or more; where the membership is less
than twenty-five, a basic-level trade union committee may be
separately set up, or a basic-level trade union committee may be
set up jointly by the members in two or more work units, or an
organizer may be elected, to organize the members in various
activities. Where female workers and staff members are relatively
large in number, a trade union committee for female workers and
staff members may be set up, which shall carry out its work under
the leadership of the trade union at the corresponding level; where
they are relatively small in number, there may be a member in
charge of the female workers and staff members on a trade union
committee. 

In townships, towns or in urban neighborhoods, where workers and
staff members of enterprises are relatively large in number, joint
basic-level trade union federations may be set up. 

Local trade union federations shall be established in places at
or above the county level. 

Industrial trade unions may be formed, when needed, at national
or local levels for a single industry or several industries of a
similar nature. 

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions shall be established as
the unified national organization. 

Article 11 The establishment of basic-level trade union
organizations, local trade union federations, and national or local
industrial trade union organizations shall be submitted to the
trade union organization at the next higher level for
approval. 

Trade union organizations at higher levels may dispatch their
members to assist and guide the workers and staff members of
enterprises to set up their trade unions, no units or individuals
may obstruct the effort. 

Article 12 No organizations or individuals may dissolve or
merge trade union organizations at will. 

A basic-level trade union organization shall be dissolved
accordingly when the enterprise or institution or government
department to which it belongs is terminated or dissolved, and the
matter shall be reported to the trade union organization at the
next higher level. 

The membership of the members of the dissolved trade union
organization specified in the provisions of the preceding paragraph
may be retained, and the specific administrative measures in this
regard shall be formulated by the All-China Federation of Trade
Unions. 

Article 13 For a trade union in an enterprise or
institution with two hundred and more workers and staff members,
there may be a full-time chairman. The number of the full-time
functionaries of a trade union shall be determined by the trade
union together with the enterprise or institution through
consultation. 

Article 14 The All-China Federation of Trade Unions, a
local trade union federation or an industrial trade union enjoys
the status of a legal person in the capacity of a public
organization. 

A basic-level trade union organization, which has acquired the
qualifications of a legal person as prescribed in the General
Principles of the Civil Law, shall, in accordance with law, be
granted the status of a legal person as a public
organization. 

Article 15 The term of office of the basic-level trade union
committee is three or five years. The term of office of the
committees of the local trade union federations at different levels
and of the industrial trade union organizations is five
years. 

Article 16 Basic-level trade union committees shall convene
members’ assemblies or members’ congresses at regular intervals, at
which major issues related to the work of trade union organizations
shall be discussed and decided. Upon the proposal made by a
basic-level trade union committee or over one-third of the trade
union members, a provisional members’ assembly or members’ congress
may be convened. 

Article 17 No trade union chairman or vice-chairman may be
arbitrarily transferred to another unit before the expiration of
his tenure of office. When such a transfer is prompted by the need
of work, it shall be subject to approval by the trade union
committee at the corresponding level and the trade union at the
next higher level. 

The recall of the chairman or vice-chairman of a trade union
must be discussed at the members’ assembly or members’ congress,
and no such recall shall be made without approval by more than half
of all the members at the assembly or congress. 

Article 18 The term of labor contract for the full-time
chairman, vice-chairman or member of a basic-level trade union
shall be automatically extended from the date he assumes the
office, and the term extended shall be equal to the term of office;
if the term of labor contract left to be served by a chairman,
vice-chairman or member is shorter than the term of office from the
date he the assumes the office, the term of the labor contract
shall be automatically extended to the expiration of the term of
office, except that he commits serious mistakes during the term of
office or reaches the statutory age for retirement. 

Chapter III Rights and Obligations of Trade
Unions 

Article 19 If an enterprise or institution acts in contravention
to the system of the congress of workers and staff members or other
systems of democratic management, the trade union shall have the
right to demand rectification so as to ensure the workers and staff
members the exercise of their right in democratic management as
prescribed by law. 

For matters which should be submitted to the assembly or
congress of workers and staff members for deliberation, adoption or
decision, as prescribed by laws and regulations, enterprises or
institutions shall do so accordingly. 

Article 20 Trade unions shall assist and guide workers and
staff members in signing labor contracts with enterprises or
institutions managed as enterprises. 

Trade unions shall, on behalf of the workers and staff members,
make equal consultations and sign collective contracts with
enterprises or institutions under enterprise-style
management.  The draft collective contracts shall be submitted
to the congresses of the workers and staff members or all the
workers and staff members for deliberation and approval. 

When trade unions sign collective contracts, trade unions at
higher levels shall afford support and assistance to
them. 

If an enterprise infringes upon labor rights and interests of
the workers and staff members in violation of the collective
contract, the trade union may, according to law, demand the
enterprise to assume the responsibilities for its acts; if the
disputes arising from the performance of the collective contract
fail to be settled through consultations, the trade union may
submit them to the labor dispute arbitration bodies for
arbitration; if the arbitration bodies refuse to accept the case or
the trade union is not satisfied with the arbitral ruling, 
the trade union may bring the case before a People’s
Court. 

Article 21 If an enterprise or institution punishes a worker or
staff member in a manner that the trade union considers improper,
the trade union shall have the right to advance its
opinion. 

Before unilaterally deciding to dissolve the labor contract with
a worker or staff member, the enterprise shall inform the trade
union of the reasons why; and, if the trade union considers that
the enterprise violates laws, regulations or the contract in
question and demands that it reconsider the matter, the enterprise
shall study the opinion of the trade union, and inform the trade
union of its final decision in writing. 

Where a worker or staff member believes that the enterprise
infringes upon his labor rights and interests and therefore applies
for labor dispute arbitration or brings the case before a People’s
Court, the trade union shall give him support and
assistance. 

Article 22 If an enterprise or institution, in violation of
laws and regulations on labor, infringes upon the labor rights and
interests of the workers and staff members in any of the following
ways, the trade union shall, on behalf of the workers and staff
members, make representations to the enterprise or institution and
demand that it take measures for rectification; the enterprise or
institution shall review and handle the matter, and give a reply to
the trade union; if the enterprise or institution refuses to make
rectification, the trade union may apply to the local people’s
government for a decision according to law: 

(1) embezzling part of the wages of the workers and staff
members; 

(2) failing to provide occupational safety and health
conditions; 

(3) arbitrarily extending working hours; 

(4) infringing upon the special rights and interests of female
workers and staff members as well as the minor workers;
or 

(5) seriously infringing upon other labor rights and interests
of the workers and staff members. 

Article 23 Trade unions shall, in accordance with State
regulations, see to it that the working conditions and occupational
safety and health facilities for enterprises under construction or
expansion and for technological transformation projects are
designed, built and put into operation or use simultaneously with
the main parts of projects. The enterprises or the competent
departments shall give serious consideration to the opinions put
forth by the trade unions, and inform the trade unions of the
results of their consideration in writing. 

Article 24 When the trade union finds that the enterprise
gives a command contrary to the established rules and compels
workers to operate under unsafe conditions, or when major hidden
dangers and occupational hazards are found in the course of
production, the trade union shall have the right to put forward
proposals for a solution, and the enterprise shall, without delay,
consider the proposals and give a reply to the trade union. Where
the very lives of the workers and staff members are found to be in
danger, the trade union shall have the right to make a proposal to
the enterprise that a withdrawal of the workers and staff members
from the dangerous site be organized, and the enterprise shall make
a decision promptly. 

Article 25 Trade unions shall have the right to investigate
into the infringements upon the legitimate rights and interests of
the workers and staff members by enterprises or institutions, and
the units concerned shall give them assistance. 

Article 26 Trade unions shall participate in investigation
into and settlement of job-related accidents causing death or
injuries to workers and staff members and in investigation into and
solution of other problems seriously endangering the health of
workers and staff members. Trade unions shall make proposals for
solutions to the departments concerned, and have the right to
demand that the persons who are directly in charge and the other
persons who are responsible be investigated for their liabilities.
The proposals put forth by trade unions shall be considered and
replies be given without delay. 

Article 27 In case of work-stoppage or slow-down strike in
an enterprise or institution, the trade union shall, on behalf of
the workers and staff members, hold consultation with the
enterprise or institution or the parties concerned, present the
opinions and demands of the workers and staff members, and put
forth proposals for solutions. With respect to the reasonable
demands made by the workers and staff members, the enterprise or
institution shall try to satisfy them. The trade union shall assist
the enterprise or institution in properly dealing with the matter
so as to help restore the normal order of production and other work
as soon as possible. 

Article 28 Trade unions shall participate in the
conciliation of labor disputes in enterprises. 

Local labor dispute arbitration bodies shall include
representatives of trade unions at the corresponding
levels. 

Article 29 Trade union federations at or above the county
level may provide legal services to their affiliated trade unions
and workers and staff members. 

Article 30 Trade unions shall assist enterprises,
institutions and government departments in providing adequate
collective welfare services to the workers and staff members and in
properly dealing with matters concerning wages, occupational safety
and health as well as social insurance. 

Article 31 Trade unions shall, in conjunction with
enterprises and institutions, conduct education among the workers
and staff members in the need to do their work and protect the
property of the enterprises and the State in the attitude of
masters of the country, mobilize the masses of workers and staff
members in activities to make rational proposals and technical
renovations and in sparetime cultural and technical studies and
vocational training, and also in recreational and sports
activities. 

Article 32 Entrusted by the government, trade unions shall,
together with relevant departments, do a good job of choosing,
commending, cultivating and administering model workers and
advanced producers (workers). 

Article 33 When organizing people to draft or revise laws,
regulations or rules directly related to the immediate interests of
workers and staff members, the government departments shall listen
to the opinions of trade unions. 

When working out plans for national economic and social
development, the people’s governments at or above the county level
shall, where major questions related to the interests of workers
and staff members are concerned, listen to the opinions of the
trade unions at the corresponding levels. 

When studying and working out policies and measures on
employment, wages, occupational safety and health, social
insurance, and other questions related to the immediate interests
of workers and staff members, the people’s governments at or above
the county level and their relevant departments shall invite the
trade unions at the corresponding levels to take part in the study
and listen to their opinions. 

Article 34 The people’s governments at or above the county
level may, through meetings or by other appropriate ways, inform
the trade unions at the corresponding levels of their important
work programmes and administrative measures related to trade union
work, analyse and settle the problems as reflected in the opinions
and aspirations of the masses of the workers and staff members
conveyed by trade unions. 

Administrative departments for labor under the people’s
governments at various levels shall, together with the trade unions
at the corresponding levels and the representatives of enterprises,
establish trilateral consultation mechanisms on labor relations and
jointly analyse and settle major issues regarding labor
relations. 

Chapter IV Basic-level Trade Union
Organizations 

Article 35 In a State-owned enterprise, the congress of the
workers and staff members is the basic form of democratic
management of the enterprise and the organ by which the workers and
staff members exercise their right to democratic management, and
discharges its functions and powers in accordance with the
provisions of laws. 

The trade union committee of the State-owned enterprise is the
working body of the congress of the workers and staff members and
takes care of the day-to-day work of the congress, checks and
supervises the implementation of the resolutions adopted by the
congress. 

Article 36 The trade union committee of a collectively
owned enterprise shall support and organize the participation of
the workers and staff members in democratic management and
democratic supervision, and defend their rights in electing,
removing managerial personnel and deciding on major questions
concerning operation and management. 

Article 37 Trade union committees of enterprises or
institutions other than the ones specified in Articles 35 and 36 of
this Law shall, in accordance with the provisions of laws, organize
the participation of the workers and staff members in democratic
management of the enterprises and institutions by ways appropriate
to the enterprises or institutions. 

Article 38 When discussing major issues on operation,
management and development, the enterprise or institution shall
listen to the opinions of trade union. The trade union in an
enterprise or institution shall have its representative(s)
attending any meetings held by the enterprise or institution to
discuss matters on wages, welfare, occupational safety and health,
social insurance and other questions related to the immediate
interests of the workers and staff members. 

An enterprise or institution shall support the trade union in
carrying out its activities in accordance with law, and the trade
union shall support the enterprise or institution in exercising its
power of operation and management in accordance with law. 

Article 39 Election of the representative(s) from among the
workers and staff members to the board of directors or the board of
supervisors of a company shall be conducted in accordance with the
relevant provisions of the Company Law. 

Article 40 Basic-level trade union committees shall hold
meetings or organize activities for workers and staff members
outside production- or work-hours; when such meetings or activities
are to take up production- or work-hours, they shall seek prior
consent from the enterprises or institutions. 

Part-time committee members of basic-level trade unions shall
receive their normal wages, and their other benefits shall remain
unaffected if the meetings they attend or the trade union work they
do during production- or work-hours take up not more than three
working days every month. 

Article 41 Full-time functionaries of trade union committees in
enterprises, institutions and government departments shall have
their wages, bonuses and subsidies paid by the units to which they
belong. They shall enjoy the same social insurance and other
welfare benefits as the other workers and staff members of their
units.  

Chapter V Trade Union Funds and Property 

Article 42 The sources of trade union funds are as
follows: 

(1) membership dues paid by union members; 

(2) contribution, equivalent to two percent of the monthly
payroll of all the workers and staff members, allocated by the
enterprise, institution or government department where the trade
union is established; 

(3) incomes derived from enterprises and undertakings run by
trade unions; 

(4) subsidies provided by the people’s governments;
and 

(5) other incomes. 

The contribution allocated by the enterprises or institutions,
as specified in Subparagraph (2) of the preceding paragraph, shall
be listed and allocated before tax. 

Trade union funds shall mainly be used in the service of the
workers and staff members and for activities sponsored by trade
unions. Measures for the use of trade union funds shall be
formulated by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. 

Article 43 Where an enterprise or institution delays allocating
or refuses to allocate the contribution to the trade union without
justifiable reasons, the basic-level trade union or the trade union
at a higher level may apply to the local People’s Court for an
order for payment; if it refuses to obey the order, the trade union
may, in accordance with law, apply to the People’s Court for
compulsory enforcement. 

Article 44 Trade unions shall establish budgets, final
accounts and auditing and supervisory systems based on the
principle of financial autonomy. 

For trade unions at various levels, auditing commissions shall
be set up. 

Trade unions at various levels shall subject their incomes and
expenditures to examination by the auditing commissions at the
corresponding levels, report them regularly to the members’
assemblies or congresses and receive their supervision.  The
trade union members’ assemblies or congresses shall have the right
to express their opinions on the use of funds. 

The use of trade union funds shall be subject to State
supervision according to law. 

Article 45 People’s governments at various levels and
enterprises, institutions and government departments shall make
available such necessary material means as facilities and places
for trade unions to function and conduct their
activities. 

Article 46 No trade unions’ property, funds, or immovable
property allocated by the State may be embezzled, diverted to other
uses or arbitrarily disposed of, by any organization or
individual. 

Article 47 No enterprises or institutions run by trade
unions to serve the workers and staff members may have their
affiliation changed arbitrarily.  

Article 48 Retired trade union functionaries at or above
the county level shall enjoy the same treatment as retired
functionaries of government departments do.  

Chapter VI  Legal Liabilities 

Article 49 Where their legitimate rights and interests are
infringed upon in violation of the provisions of this Law, the
trade unions shall have the right to submit the matter to people’s
governments or relevant departments for solution, or to bring the
case before a People’s Court. 

Article 50 Any organization or individual that, in
violation of the provisions of Articles 3 and 11 of this Law,
obstructs the workers’ and staff members’ from joining or
organizing of trade unions in accordance with law or the effort
made by trade unions at higher levels to assist and guide the
workers and staff members in establishing trade unions shall be
ordered to by the administrative department for labor to make
rectification; if it refuses to do so, the said department may
apply to the people’s government at or above the county level for
solution; where grave consequences are caused as a result of the
use of such means as violence and threat in obstruction and thus a
crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated
according to law. 

Article 51 Any organization that, in violation of the
provisions of this Law, retaliate the functionaries of trade unions
who perform their duties and functions according to law by
transferring them to other posts without justifiable reasons shall
be ordered by the administrative department for labor to rectify
and reinstate the functionaries; if losses are caused therefrom,
compensation shall be made to them. 

Anyone who humiliates, slanders or inflict injuries upon the
functionaries of trade unions who perform their duties and
functions according to law, which constitutes a crime, shall be
investigated for criminal responsibility according to law; if the
case is not serious enough to constitute a crime, he shall be
punished by the public security organ in accordance with the
regulations on administrative penalties for public
security. 

Article 52 In any of the following cases in which the
provisions of this Law are violated, the administrative department
for labor shall order that the victim be reinstated, his
remuneration payable during the period of the termination of the
labor contract be made up, or that a compensation two times the
amount of his annual income be given: 

(1) the labor contract of a worker or staff member is terminated
due to his participation in trade union activities; or 

(2) the labor contract of a trade union functionary is
terminated due to the performance of his duties and functions
prescribed by this Law. 

Article 53 Any organization or individual that, in
violation of the provisions of this Law, commits one of the
following acts shall be ordered by the people’s governments at or
above the county level to rectify, and the said government shall
handle the case according to law: 

(1) preventing a trade union from mobilizing the workers and
staff members to exercise, according to law, their democratic
rights through the congress of the workers and staff members and
other forms; 

(2) illegally dissolving or merging trade union
organizations; 

(3) preventing a trade union from participating in the
investigation into and solution of an accident causing job-related
injuries or death to workers or staff members or other
infringements upon the legitimate rights and interests of the
workers and staff members; or 

(4) rejecting consultation on an equal footing without
justifiable reasons. 

Article 54 Anyone who, in violation of the provisions of
Article 46 of this Law, embezzles the fund or property of a trade
union and refuses to return it, the trade union may bring the case
before a People’s Court and demand that the fund or property be
returned and that the losses caused be compensated. 

Article 55 Where a trade union functionary, in violation of
the provisions of this Law, infringes upon the rights and interests
of the workers and staff members or of the trade union, the trade
union at the corresponding level or the trade union at a higher
level shall order the functionary to rectify, or impose a sanction
on him; if the circumstances are serious, the functionary shall be
removed from office in accordance with the Constitution of Trade
Unions of the People’s Republic of China; if losses are caused, the
liability for compensation shall be borne; if a crime is
constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated
according to law.  

Chapter VII  Supplementary Provisions 

Article 56 Specific measures for implementation of this Law
by the trade unions in government departments shall be formulated
by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions together with relevant
government departments. 

Article 57 This Law shall go into effect as of the date of
its promulgation. The Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of
China, promulgated by the Central People’s Government on June 29,
1950, shall be nullified at the same time.

(Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the
National People’s Congress)