Child labour in China - Arguments for reasons:

poverty: Most of WFCL takes place in subsistence agriculture families need their
children to work for the survival of the family; urban families and migrant worker families
are affected by WFCL; parents of poor families cant protect their children

corruption: Police, inspectors and local authorities are often bribed by parents to
investigate cases; police are in collusion with local companies (government-business
alliance) and re-sell rescued children or turn a blind eye on violations of labour laws

rural-urban gap, urbanization: WFCL is more difficult to be controlled because it

occurs in remote areas; parents and children are often not at home/hit by WFCL not at
home but on their way to jobs/family members in urban hubs; poverty forces Chinese to
migrate (in millions -> huge numbers) into cities/urban hubs/coastal towns; the hukou
system prevents migrant workers to settle in cities/close to their jobs and reunite with
their families

legal insecurity, no independent judges: there are no independent judges to file

complaints or punish violations of labour laws; the government and local authorities
influence court decisions or prevent systematic investigations; laws are made by the
executive without any control of the legislative; labour laws are not guaranteed by a
constitution but depend on political decisions of the government beyond any control or
amendment/improvements made by the legislative or judiciary; labour laws are not
enforced by the government

inadequate and insufficient labour laws: Work and Study programme can be misused
for WFCL; international labour laws have been ratified but not enforced; important
international treaties have not been signed yet (Covenant on citizens rights); labour laws
are not enforced by the government
no independent trade unions: workers have no right nor the possibility to complain, to
demonstrate for their rights, to report violations of labour law to independent control
bodies, to refer to/rely on the rights which labour laws guarantee them

low expenditure on education: China does not invest sufficient resources in their
education system in relation to their high GDP or to international standards -> e.g.
families have to pay fees for basic education, children have to work instead of going to
school

censorship: reports on labour law violations are suppressed or scarce; there is no

investigative press nor are reports of violations followed up systematically; reports of
inspectors are kept secret; statistics of WFCL dont exist

trade with no rule/unregulated development/lack of international control:

international trade takes up only 5-7% of WFCL: it occurs in the production of bricks for
building houses and production sites producing for the (inter)national market, electronics,
fireworks, cotton, textiles, toys; TNCs employ auditors to fight WFCL but are restricted by
national laws/national sovereignty of China; economic reforms are not followed up by a
comprehensible labour law system which guarantees and enforces basic labour rights;
companies policies are not bound to laws; trade is free to a certain degree but not
social/doesnt provide a resilient social security system; independent auditors sent by
international companies or TNCs are not allowed to investigate cases of violations
systematically or control companies in China on a regular basis; registers of companies in
remote areas dont exist -> auditors have difficulties in finding out about the companies
involved in supply chains