Chinese Workers Research Articles

Family migration and well-being of Chinese migrant workers’ children

This article aims to explore the effects of parental migration on the well-being of children and how to adjust social cognitive well-being through the interrelations among family relations and social cognitive well-being indicators using structural equation modelling. Two modified social cognitive well-being models were tested in 1682 Chinese migrant workers' children to examine the pathways among social cognitive well-being and family relation characteristics. The modified models are based on the social cognitive well-being model and the characteristics of Chinese migrant workers' children. The results show that caregiver-child communication frequency, caregiver-child regulation, caregiver-child conflicts, caregiver-child trust and communication, and coactivity positively impact children’s social cognitive well-being. In contrast, caregiver-child alienation negatively influences children’s social cognitive factors through caregiver-child trust and communication. Additionally, this research revealed that family-related characteristics (caregiver-child regulation, caregiver-child coactivities, caregiver-child communication frequency, caregiver-child alienation, caregiver-child conflicts, and caregiver-child trust and communication) are interconnected with social cognitive well-being indicators (academic satisfaction, outcome expectations, goal progress, lifelong satisfaction, environmental support, positive affect, negative affect, and self-efficacy). This suggests that family migration and relationships with caregiver(s) can significantly affect the well-being of migrant workers' children.

The Implications Social Belongingness in the Workplace Have on Chinese Employees Working Behaviour

Social belonging is a basic need for human beings, and the workplace is where adults spend the most time of their day. Thus, social belonging in the workplace is important. This study aimed to analyze the implications belongingness has on Chinese employees' working behaviour based on their age, gender, and work attributes (brain workers, manual workers, and general workers). The research offered a questionnaire to 100 Chinese workers who have worked in a company for more than three months. The result indicates that around 80% of people would be affected by salaries and personal development space, and females tend to be impacted by communication and the arrangement of work more than males, general workers production would be impacted by weak social belongingness more seriously than the other two types workers. Future research should prioritize investigating the impact of social belongingness on various factors in the workplace and identifying the most effective ways to enhance it.

Navigating through Transnational Experiences of Chinese Working Holiday Makers in New Zealand

Summary In 2008, New Zealand took the lead globally in offering a working holiday scheme to Chinese youth following the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. This scheme allows Chinese participants to live, work, and/or travel for 12 months in New Zealand, which attracted huge attention and sparked enormous interest among young Chinese. Against this backdrop, the primary focus of this case study is to examine the transnational experiences of Chinese working holiday makers (WHMs) in New Zealand through a cultural lens, highlighting the distinctive characteristics of this cohort. In particular, this case study explores the factors that motivated young Chinese to become WHMs in New Zealand. Moreover, this case sheds light on their dual-layered working experience; namely how they adapted to the positive working dynamics in New Zealand compared to the working experience back in China while still navigating through perceived precarious situations. This case further discusses how Chinese individuals have transformed their understanding of sociocultural norms and parental expectations through working holidays. Furthermore, the case study examines the broader economic impact of this growing cohort on New Zealand, providing insights into the implications of the working holiday scheme. Information © The Author 2024

Knowledge, attitudes, and current practices toward lung cancer palliative care management in China: A national survey.

11143 Background: To demonstrate the status and differences in knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of lung cancer palliative care (LCPC) management, and to measure patient controlled analgesia (PCA) in cancer pain management in of China. Methods: A questionnaire on LCPC management was used in this study, which involved a total of 2093 participants from 706 hospitals in China. Seven major components make up the questionnaire, including chi-square tests or Fisher exact probabilities to measure the differences in KAP between hospitals grades. Comparing distributions of ordered data between groups was done using the Kruskal-Wallis H test or the Mann-Whitney U test. Multiple choice questions use multiple response cross analysis. Correlation was evaluated by the Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: 84.2% participants believed that anti-tumor therapy is equally important as palliative care. The satisfaction rate of participants from grade 3 hospitals, which was significantly higher than that of grade 2 and grade 1 hospitals (χ²=27.402, P=0.002). The most common symptoms requiring LCPC was pain. The major barriers toward to LCPC were “Patients and families are concerned about the safety of long-term use of palliative care related drugs”. The most common reasons for the use of PCA treatment were 31.1% participants thought “Patients with systemic application of large doses of opioids or adverse reactions to opioids that cannot be tolerated”. The top three barriers toward PCA treatment of cancer pain were (i) worry about adverse reactions of drug overdose, (ii) worry about opioid addiction, and (iii) increase of patients' economic burden. In the past 24 months, 33.9% of the participants had not participated in online or offline training related to palliative care of lung cancer. Conclusions: Chinese healthcare workers are in need of training for lung cancer palliative care and, in particular, for controlling cancer pain symptoms.

ON THE TRAINING OF CADRES FOR THE CHINESE REVOLUTION IN THE USSR (ON THE HISTORY OF THE YUANLI SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES)

The victory of the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 awakened the enthusiasm of advanced Chinese intellectuals to master the Russian revolutionary experience, and many young Chinese revolutionaries sought to study directly in the birthplace of October. In order to study Russian revolutionary theory and experience and achieve the goal of transforming the country, it was necessary to train a group of Russian-speaking cadres for the future revolution. The article deals with the history of the first cadre school of the Communist Party of China, the School of Foreign Languages in Yuyangli, a neighborhood of Shanghai. The research shows that, although it existed for only about a year, this school made an important contribution to the education of the first cadres of the CPC and to the development of the Chinese revolution. Its teachers and students vigorously propagated Marxism, actively participated in party construction, led the Chinese workers, peasants, youth, women’s movements and armed struggle. They played a special role in connecting Marxist theory with the practice of the Chinese revolution, developing and strengthening the Party’s organizational strength and expanding its political influence. Old Yuyangli and New Yuyangli are two neighboring streets. In 1920, it was here that a group of Chinese communists in Shanghai established the School of Foreign Languages, which actually became a school for training Chinese revolutionary cadres. The first group of young communists who studied here were sent to the USSR after only a few months of Russian language and political training. Upon returning home, most of the graduates of the School of Foreign Languages became prominent figures of the Chinese revolution. The spread of Marxism in China is closely connected with this group of young people who studied in the USSR. Yuyangli is not just a toponym and a place where the School of Foreign Languages was located, but it is a historical “witness” of the CPC’s more than century-long struggle for its ideals.

The shifting motherhood penalty and fatherhood premium in China's gig economy: Impact of parental status on income changes

The fatherhood premium and motherhood penalty are key concepts in the study of gender income gaps. Using an ordinary least squares model, influencing mechanism analysis and Oaxaca‐Blinder decomposition, we examine changes in Chinese gig workers’ income by gender, before and after parenthood. The results indicate that, in the Chinese gig economy, the motherhood penalty is vanishing, while the fatherhood premium has evolved into a fatherhood penalty owing to work pressure and the gender segregation of occupations in the gig economy, requiring men to balance their time and energy between work and childcare in a way that is not as prevalent in other sectors.

The Lesser of Two Evils? Explaining Chinese Rural Migrant Workers’ Preference for On-demand Food Delivery Work With Reference to the Legal Framework

Drawing on a series of interviews with on-demand food delivery riders, who are rural migrant workers, this paper seeks to explain the workers’ decision to give up stable jobs in factories in favour of largely unregulated and precarious on-demand work. Focusing on those aspects of the legal framework which shape workers’ decisions, it presents the explanation under the dual banners of ‘income’ and ‘freedom and flexibility’. In terms of income, Chinese law often enables low factory wages and a reliance on overtime; migrant workers view social insurance contributions as a loss; issues with payroll and wage arrears are significant. In terms of freedom and flexibility, insufficient rest rights lead to inadequate breaks for assembly line workers and, compounded by unspecified ‘special working time’ permit physically unbearable shifts without extra compensation. Age and gender discrimination are prevalent both in factories and various sectors. In contrast, on-demand delivery work has relatively low barriers to entry.

The influence of enterprise dormitories on the urban integration of migrant workers in China: an exploration of two distinct migration stages of individual and family migration and the differences between them

The role of enterprise dormitories as the main living arrangements of Chinese migrant workers who are registered as rural residents but make their living in cities in pursuit of urbanisation cannot be ignored. However, the existing research on living spaces and the urban integration of migrant workers lacks sufficient focus on enterprise dormitories. Using the logit model to examine representative data on the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta areas and applying a national dataset taken from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey, we analyse how enterprise dormitories affect the urban integration of migrant workers across the different migration stages in this paper. The research results reveal that there are two migration stages in the urban integration of migrant workers. In the individual migration stage, based on the production target, enterprises accommodate migrant workers as a means of reducing their labour costs by increasing the labour time input of migrant workers. Moreover, in the family migration stage, enterprise dormitories are conducive to the low-cost integration of migrant workers into urban society, but they negatively affect further family migration because of the insufficient family living space that they provide. This research offers the intellectual foundation required for not only resolving the contradiction between the family reunification of migrant workers and their employment situation but also for the optimisation of housing policy.

The effects of demand-resource relationship on work-family conflict under Chinese culture: a cross-sectional study.

Chinese work and lifestyle are undergoing dramatic changes caused by constantly changing technology and new policies. The demand-resource dynamic relationship, which leads to work-family conflict (WFC), has become increasingly complicated. However, very little is known about the combined effects of different factors from work and family spheres on WFC. This study aims to explore (1) the discrepancy between fit and misfit, (2) the discrepancy of the different degrees of fit, and (3) the discrepancy of the different degrees of misfit from two perspectives: work demand-family resource and work resource-family demand. Data were collected from 745 individuals in China and analyzed using polynomial regression and response surface. The results demonstrate that individuals having low work demand-high family resources experience the lowest WFC, and the fit between work demands and family resources impacts the conflict in a U way. Similarly, high work resource-low family demand results in the lowest WFC; however, the fit between work resources and family demands has negative effects on the conflict. This study took factors from both family and work domains into consideration and explored the effect of their interaction on WFC. By examining the dynamic relationship between demands and resources, adjustments can be made in both domains simultaneously, providing more flexible guidance for management practices that reduce WFC.

Impact of Environmental Uncertainty on Depression and Anxiety Among Chinese Workers: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Environmental uncertainty has reached unprecedented levels in recent years. While there is substantial knowledge about the connection between environmental uncertainty and organizational outcomes, limited attention has been devoted to investigating its impact on employees' depression and anxiety symptoms. Grounded in job demands-resources theory, this study aims to explore the relationship between environmental uncertainty and employees' depression and anxiety symptoms, and it further investigates the mediating role of work pressure and the moderating role of union practices. In September 2022, we undertook a cross-sectional survey study, gathering data from 1081 employees across various enterprises situated in Liaoning, China. Throughout this timeframe, notable global occurrences heightened the awareness of environmental uncertainty. Following the exclusion of participants who did not provide information on the main variables, the final valid sample comprised 940 employees. To test all hypotheses, a series of confirmatory factor analyses and path-analytic procedures were conducted using Mplus 7.0. Our results confirm that environmental uncertainty, as a high job demand, increases employees' work pressure, thereby elevating rates of anxiety and depression; the indirect relationship between environmental uncertainty and employees' anxiety and depression through work pressure is stronger when union practices are lower. Our findings indicate the detrimental impact of environmental uncertainty on employees' mental health, and highlight the roles of work pressure and union practices. In light of this, organizations should take steps to mitigate employees' perceptions of environmental uncertainty and establish mental health programs, in cooperation with union practices, to protect employees' mental well-being.

Urban-rural differences in the association between occupational physical activity and mortality in Chinese working population: evidence from a nationwide cohort study

Despite emerging studies suggesting that occupational physical activity (OPA) might be harmful to health, the available evidence is not definitive. Most of these research studies were conducted in high-income Western countries or in urbanized setting. In China, where over one-third of the population resides in rural area, the impact of OPA on health is not well understood. The goal of this study is to investigate how the association between OPA and mortality vary by urban-rural settings. Baseline data on OPA was gathered using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire from 30,650 urban and 49,674 rural working adults as part of the 2013-2014 China Chronic Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance. Participants were followed for a median of 6.2 years, and death records were retrieved from the National Mortality Surveillance System until December 31, 2019. The multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine urban-rural differences in the association between OPA and all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Subgroup analyses were performed by sex, socioeconomic status, leisure time, transportation, and non-occupational physical activity. During the study period, 1342 deaths were recorded, of which 426 were caused by CVD. In rural area, working adults engaging in occupational moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for ≥40h per week, compared to those without any, had an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.60 (95% CI: 0.49-0.73) for all-cause mortality and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.37-0.83) for CVD mortality. However, no significant association was found in urban area (0.84 [0.61-1.15] for all-cause mortality, Pinteraction=0.036; and 0.94 [0.53-1.66] for CVD mortality, Pinteraction=0.098). The negative associations of occupational MVPA with mortality were more pronounced in women, non-smokers, and those with less non-occupational physical activities. Hypertension, heart rate, and diabetes were important contributors to the relationship between occupational MVPA and mortality. The findings from the current study did not support the notion that high levels of OPA would induce harm. On the contrary, in rural setting, higher levels of OPA were associated with lower mortality risks. Furthermore, the observed urban-rural differences in the association between OPA and mortality underscored the need for context-specific public health guidelines on physical activities. R&D Program of Beijing Municipal Education Commission (KM202210025026),National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2500201), and Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by BAST (BYESS2023385).

China's Infrastructural Capitalism and Infrastructural Power of Labor: The Making of the Chinese Working Class

This article anticipates a political project that underlines China's infrastructural capitalism and the infrastructural power of labor in the making of the Chinese working class. This project embarks a re‐departure of the left movement after the Jasic struggle, which inspired a rebirth of global Marxism and Maoism that attempts to confront the failure of the first wave of socialist movements and the neoliberal turn of global capitalism. Meeting this historical conjuncture, this project is situated in the legacy of the Chinese Revolution and its firmly held belief in the class struggles of the working masses who fought for a vision of communism since the early 1920s. As part of a global project in preparation for the new wave of emancipatory movements, this project is also located in a global anti‐capitalism movement and attempts to overcome the parochial and nationalistic approach of existing Chinese Marxism. Specifically, the author conceives that Chinese capitalism has entered a new age of monopoly supported not only by new phases of high technology but also, more importantly, by state power in constructing infrastructural bases such as building projects, new economic zones, highways and high‐speed railways, digital platforms, and logistics, both internally and externally, to reproduce expanded capitalism, resulting in fierce imperial battles among global powers. The article conceptualizes this historical process not only as “infrastructural capitalism,” a term that vividly embodies the materiality of expanded capitalism, but also the infrastructural power of labor to take root.

Association between friends’ hesitancy and personal COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Chinese medical staff

ABSTRACT COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy remains problematic among healthcare workers. Social network influences may shape vaccine decision-making, but few studies have examined this in this critical workforce. We assessed the relationship between friends’ COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and personal hesitancy among Chinese healthcare personnel. In December 2022–January 2023, a cross-sectional online survey was conducted at a tertiary hospital in China using WeChat. Of the 1832 healthcare personnel who were invited to answer the structured questionnaire, 613 (33.5%) samples had valid data for data analysis. Logistic regression examined the association between friends’ hesitancy and participants’ own hesitancy, adjusting for confounders. Of 613 healthcare workers included, 266 (43.4%) were hesitant. Those with hesitant friends had 6.34 times higher adjusted odds of hesitating themselves versus those without hesitant friends (95% CI 2.97–13.52). Strong associations persisted across subgroups. Chinese healthcare workers’ COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy was highly influenced by perceived friends’ attitudes. Fostering pro-vaccine social norms through trusted peer networks could help promote vaccine acceptance in this critical workforce.

Ethnic discrimination, asking for fair treatment, and poor self-rated health: a gender stratified analysis of 13,443 Korean Chinese waged workers in South Korea

BackgroundIn South Korea, Korean Chinese workers experience ethnic discrimination although they share physical similarities and ethnic heritage with native-born Koreans. This study aimed to examine whether perceived ethnic discrimination is associated with poor self-rated health and whether the association differs by gender among Korean Chinese waged workers in South Korea.MethodsWe conducted a pooled cross-sectional analysis using data of 13,443 Korean Chinese waged workers from the Survey on Immigrants’ Living Conditions and Labor Force conducted in 2018, 2020, and 2022. Based on perceived ethnic discrimination, asking for fair treatment, and subsequent situational improvement, respondents were classified into the following four groups: “Not experienced,” “Experienced, not asked for fair treatment,” “Experienced, asked for fair treatment, not improved,” and “Experienced, asked for fair treatment, improved.” Poor self-rated health was assessed using a single question “How is your current overall health?” We applied logistic regression to examine the association between perceived ethnic discrimination and poor self-rated health, with gender-stratified analyses.ResultsWe found an association between ethnic discrimination and poor self-rated health among Korean Chinese waged workers. In the gender-stratified analysis, the “Experienced, not asked for fair treatment” group was more likely to report poor self-rated health compared to the “Not experienced” group, regardless of gender. However, gender differences were observed in the group stratified by situational improvements. For male workers, no statistically significant association was found in the “Experienced, asked for fair treatment, improved” group with poor self-rated health (odd ratios: 0.87, 95% confidence intervals: 0.30–2.53). Conversely, among female workers, a statistically significant association was observed (odd ratios: 2.63, 95% confidence intervals: 1.29–5.38).ConclusionsThis study is the first to find an association between perceived ethnic discrimination and poor self-rated health, along with gender differences in the association between situational improvements after asking for fair treatment and poor self-rated health among Korean Chinese waged workers in South Korea.

Prevalence and influencing factors of depression and anxiety among Chinese hospital healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prevalence and influencing factors of depression and anxiety among Chinese hospital healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

РАЗМЫШЛЕНИЯ О КИТАЙЦАХ-КРАСНОАРМЕЙЦАХ ОТ БОЛЬШЕВИСТСКОЙ ПЕЧАТИ ДО РОССИЙСКИХ КИНОЛЕНТ

Статья посвящена изучению образа китайца-красноармейца на фронтах Гражданской войны в России. Внимание фокусируется на следующих ключевых сюжетах: создание образа, его постепенное «умолчание» в 1930-е гг. на фоне внутриполитических преобразований и обострения военно-политической ситуации на восточных рубежах, активное использование в условиях сближения СССР и КНР в 1950-е гг., переосмысление в современной России. Применение исторической имагологии как основного методологического подхода позволяет увидеть, как на примере китайцев, участвовавших в военных действиях, работали механизмы социальной инклюзии и эксклюзии. Источниковую базу составили материалы советской периодической печати, агитационные плакаты белого движения, произведения художественной литературы о Гражданской войне и современные российские киноленты, содержащие упоминания о китайцах в России того времени. Ключевой аргумент автора в том, что динамика репрезентации образа китайца красноармейца отражает амбивалентное отношение российского общества не только к китайским мигрантам, но и применительно к проблемам миграции в целом. В зависимости от состояния российско-китайских отношений и этапов присутствия китайцев в России происходит переосмысление образов «китайских красноармейских интернациональных отрядов». The article is devoted to the formation and development of the image of the Chinese Red Army soldier on the fronts of the Civil War in Russia. The author's attention is focused on the following key subjects: the creation of the image, its gradual “silence” in the 1930s against the background of internal political transformations and the aggravation of the military-political situation on the eastern borders, active use in the context of rapprochement between the USSR and China in the 1950s, rethinking in modern Russia. The main methodological approach is historical imagology. This scientific approach allows us to see how the mechanisms of social inclusion and exclusion worked in the example of the Chinese. The source base consisted of materials from Soviet periodicals, propaganda posters of the white movement, works of fiction about the Civil War and modern Russian films. The author’s key argument is that the dynamics of representation of the image of a Chinese Red Army soldier reflects the ambivalent attitude of Russian society not only towards Chinese migrants, but also towards migration problems. Rethinking the images of the “Chinese Red Army international detachments” at a turning point in Russian history depends on the state of Russian-Chinese relations and the stages of the presence of the Chinese in Russia.

Transnational co-production of technology: Sino-Soviet cooperation in the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, 1950–1957

ABSTRACT Using the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge as a case study, this paper explores transnational co-production of technology between the Soviet Union and China in the 1950s. Focusing on the invention of the non-caisson method, it argues that non-state actors played an important role in the process, because successful construction of the bridge could not be separated from reciprocal wills and long-term face-to-face interactions between Chinese and Soviet engineers. Moreover, by examining Chinese workers’ contribution, this paper enriches the idea of hybrid technology, including not only the mingling of national identities in the process of knowledge making but also the combining of knowledge of both elites and masses. As a core project of China’s First-Five-Year Plan, the cooperation boosted China’s confidence in technological development and the Chinese Communist Party started to re-evaluate the Soviet technical aid, which to some extent influenced China’s science and technology policies afterwards.

How does strength use relate to burnout among Chinese healthcare professionals? Exploring the mediating roles of beliefs about stress and basic psychological needs satisfaction

BackgroundThe prevalence of burnout among healthcare workers remains chronically high. Former studies have indicated that strength use is a promising approach to reduce burnout. However, relatively little is known about the psychological mechanisms underlying the ability of strength use to reduce burnout, especially among healthcare workers.AimThis study sought to examine the link between strength use and burnout in Chinese healthcare workers, and to explore the mediating roles of beliefs about stress and basic psychological needs satisfaction in that relationship.MethodsThis study was conducted in two time periods, from September to October 2020 and from February to September 2022. A total of 812 healthcare workers completed a multi-section questionnaire.ResultsStrength use was negatively associated with burnout and negative stress beliefs, and positively associated with positive stress beliefs, control beliefs, and basic psychological needs satisfaction. Moreover, negative stress beliefs, control beliefs, and basic psychological needs satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between strength use and burnout. Furthermore, effect contrasts revealed that the mediating effect of basic psychological needs satisfaction was stronger than that of negative stress beliefs and control beliefs.ConclusionOur findings revealed that negative stress beliefs, control beliefs, and basic psychological needs satisfaction act as mediators in the association of strength use with burnout. Furthermore, basic psychological needs satisfaction plays a more important mediating role than negative stress beliefs and control beliefs in the strength use–burnout relationship.

The Ideorealm of Translation from the Perspective of Translation Horizon Theory: A Case Study of a Happy Excursion

Professor Chen Daliang proposed the Chinese Translation Theory with “Translation Horizon” as its core, explaining the three states of literary translations: sense, flavor and ideorealm, constructing a theoretical system for the theory of translation horizon, which has Chinese characteristics and represents an innovative development of traditional Chinese translation theories. As the first chapter of Zhuangzi, A Happy Excursion can be regarded as representative of Zhuangzi both in terms of thought and artistry; it contains rich wisdom of classical Chinese philosophy. This paper takes Translation Horizon Theory as the theoretical framework through studying Lin Yutang’s English version of A Happy Excursion so as to explore strategies conducive to promoting Chinese culture by means of literature translation, and to building Chinese characteristic translation studies system, aiming at providing reference for translation of traditional Chinese works.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SSW NO.2 RESIDENCY STATUS: A CASE STUDY OF CHINESE MIGRANT WORKERS IN JAPAN

Approaching five years since the issuance of unlimited residency status for foreign workers in the 3K job sector, the acquisition of Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) No.2 status in Japan remains considerably below the government's anticipated target. This research aims to analyze the opportunities of SSW No.2 residency status for foreign workers, focusing on the case study of Chinese migrant workers from the dual labor market theory perspective. The research employs a qualitative approach with data collection conducted through literature sources. The findings reveal that, thus far, SSW No.2 status is predominantly held by Chinese migrant workers. However, the opportunities for foreign workers to obtain this status are notably limited due to a complex and challenging acquisition process. Employment in the secondary market accompanying this status requires foreign workers with skills equivalent to local workers. Aside from the benefit of bringing one's family, this status seems to offer no other long-term appeal. An urgent reevaluation of the procedures for obtaining SSW No.2 status is deemed necessary as a long-term solution to address the labor crisis in Japan.