The development paths that China has pursued since it first commenced with its reform and open policies in 1978 have had a profound impact on the global economy and significant implications for labour both domestically and internationally. In view of its wider development agenda since then and subsequent opening up of its economy, this research is concerned with the changing dynamics and politics of China’s engagement with overseas and international labour organisations in the same period. The research draws on extensive documentary analysis supplemented by in-depth interviews and fieldwork observations to explore the formation of contemporary relationships and interactions between China and the international labour movement and their implications. It is particularly concerned with looking at how far such interactions have changed, the extent and purposes of these interactions and their (lack of) relevance to labour and labour relations in China.

With organisations from the international labour movement in developed countries, having much debated the degree to which they should engage with China’s ACFTU and have increased their cooperation, a key concern of this research is China’s policies, agendas and motives, at different levels, for participating in and initiating international exchanges and interactions. In this regard the research also moves beyond earlier discussion of ‘constructive engagement’ to additionally highlight the centrality of relationships with labour organisations in developing countries to important aspects of China’s official policies for ACFTU international affairs work.

The thesis considers this international work of the ACFTU at its different levels. In addition to tracing the historical development of the organisation’s interactions with overseas and international trade unions at its national level and examining official policies relevant to its international relations, the thesis also considers the provincial and municipal levels of the organisation and draws on important examples of exchanges and relationships involving branches from different regions in China, considering the role of ACFTU structure and regional variation in purpose, extent and form. At the enterprise level, a contrasting rare case of international trade union solidarity outside of the official structure is also explored.

Beyond mainland China, a study of Hong Kong’s role in and for China’s international labour politics in its variety of forms, in a period in which Hong Kong’s relations with the Chinese mainland have substantially transformed, provides further important insights into forms of interaction concerning labour between China and organisations internationally. The research into this area therefore explores both official but also, more importantly, alternative forms of interaction over labour, which go beyond the Chinese state’s official channels, and which include the work of labour NGOs.

The thesis argues that aspects of continuity concerning the role of the CCP, in the face of changes concerning China’s economy and its labour relations, both acts to limit the replicability of its development path by other countries and are a defining feature for interpreting its international labour relations and the role of the ACFTU in this period. Overall, the research therefore has implications not only for Chinese labour relations but also for the situation of the international labour movement and for contemporary international labour solidarity. Moreover, at the point of connection between the development agenda of the Chinese party-state and its state labour organ’s international affairs, it is of relevance to some of the recent debates around a China Model of development.