China’s Bureaucracy in the Open-Door Legislation: the Labor Contract Law in Focus

© 2017, Journal of Chinese Political Science/Association of Chinese Political Studies. China’s bureaucratic structure has undergone significant changes along with marketization. To deal with problems in the reform era, several new bureaucracies were established while existing ones were asked to adjust themselves. With these changes, the decision-making power of each bureaucracy has been reshaped. The situation is complicated by the introduction of public participation in the decision-making. Through examining the making of the 2008 Labor Contract Law, this paper illustrates a situation where existing bureaucracies managed to adapt to open-door legislation, and to regain the power that had been relinquished by marketization.