On October 12, the 2019 China Forum on Trade Unions and Labor Relations was held in the conference hall on the 8th floor of Zhiyuan Building at CULR. Themed with “digital economy · decent work · trade unions reform”, the forum is one of the most important academic activities this year - the 70th anniversary of CULR. LI Xiaozhong, Party group member of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and Director of the Funding Review Committee, YANG Zhiming, special researcher in the Counsellor’s Office of the State Council, President of the China Association for Labour Studies and former Deputy Secretary of the Party group and Executive Vice Minister of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, LV Guoquan, Director of the Research Office of the All-china Federation of Trade Unions, MO Rong, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Labour and Social Security, LIU Xiangbing, Secretary of the Party Committee of CULR, and LIU Yufang, Vice President of CULR, attended the forum. More than 100 experts and scholars from Germany, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Beijing Jiaotong University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Capital University of Economics and Business, Fuzhou University, Xiangtan University, trade union cadres’ school and local trade unions attended the forum. Director LI Xiaozhong and Secretary LIU Xiangbing delivered opening remarks one after another, and Vice President LIU Yufang presided over the opening ceremony 

In his speech, Director LI Xiaozhong expressed his heartfelt congratulations on the opening of the forum. He pointed out that, it is of great significance to discuss the issue of labor relations and innovation in trade union works in the era of emerging technologies and new economy. Guided by General Secretary XI Jinping’s important discourse on the working class and the work of trade unions, we shall strengthen research on the laws governing the development and changes of labor relations in the new era, on the theoretical and practical aspects of socialist and harmonious labor relations with Chinese characteristics, on the reform and innovation of trade unions, and on the reform of industrial workforce construction. At the same time, he stressed the need to pool domestic and foreign research forces to form a synergy for trade union and labor relations research, to join hands and tackle key issues, providing theoretical support for the realization of decent work and the construction of harmonious labor relations.

In his speech, Secretary LIU Xiangbing pointed out that, the theme of the forum echoes the requirements of the 19th National Congress of the CPC and the 17th National Congress of Trade Unions, and responds to “the question of labor relations in the new era”. The research of labor relations and trade unions in the new era should focus on such issues as the influence of new business forms on labor relations, the trade unions’ service of safeguarding rights and the reform and innovation of trade union works in the new era. We should combine the background of the era with the theme of the research, combine theoretical research and practical experience, combine academic research and policy research, and combine domestic research with international comparative research. He called on the China Forum on Trade Unions and Labor Relations to strengthen links with relevant universities and research institutions at home and abroad, to promote applied research, and increase the forum’s international influence.

The forum held three keynote speech sessions, and 18 domestic and overseas experts delivered speeches at the forum. Vice Minister YANG Zhiming's speech focused on the problem of migrant workers and analyzed the new changes, new trends and new countermeasures of migrant worker development in the economic transformation. Vice President MO Rong pointed out in his speech that, informatization has produced employment substitution effect, employment creation effect and employment reform effect in China, and put forward relevant countermeasures. Director LV Guoquan pointed out the great significance of the construction and reform of industrial work forces from the perspective of decent work, and Professor FENG Xiliang, Dean of the School of Labor Economics of the Capital University of Economics and Business, analyzed the employment of the Internet platforms and put forward a new concept of and countermeasures to labor relation fragmentation in non-standard employment. Professor WANG Quanxing of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics believes that there is a legal dilemma for migrant workers in the era of “Internet plus”, and shared thoughts on the short-term response and long-term response. Through a case study, Professor GUO Jizhong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of Guangdong Provincial Federation of Trade Unions Cadre School, analyzed the current status of collective wage bargaining in non-public enterprises in China and the role of trade unions in collective wage bargaining in non-public enterprises. Nobuyuki Shintani, Executive Director, Department of Working Conditions, Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO) shared his thoughts on how to achieve decent work in the context of an ageing population and an ever more deepened digital economy. Professor SHI Meixia of the School of Economics and Management of Beijing Jiaotong University discussed some trade union problems in the countries along the Belt and Road and put forward countermeasures. KIU SIK BAE, President of the Korea Labor Institute, introduced the subdivided labor market in South Korea and discussed how to regulate the labor market based on the comparison between “Belt and Road Initiative” and international employment relations. Professor GAN Mantang, Director of Department of Sociology, Fuzhou University, believes that the current situation of overtime work in China needs to be reformed. Professor XU Xiaohong of Zhejiang Academy of Labor Law discusses the theory of "harmonious labor relations" from three aspects: theoretical basis, path and goal. Associate Professor XIAO Zhu, Vice President of School of Law of CULR, made a systematic comparison on the concept of the third type laborer, and put forward theoretical reflection and path selection. Professor Raymund Waltermann of the University of Bonn in Germany exchanged views on German trade unions, employers' federations and German Group Contract Law in his speech. Professor Greg Bamber of School of Business of Monash University in Australia introduced the importance and methodological framework of comparing employment relations in different countries and regions around the world based on international comparative research methods. Through a case study, Professor CHEN Naixin of the School of Law of Xiangtan University shared relevant researches on the functional innovation of trade unions as a carrier and platform for employee shareholding. Professor WANG Renfu of Shanghai Vocational College of Trade Union analyzed the current challenges and countermeasures for the coordination of labor relations at home and abroad. ZHOU Xiao from CULR shared the working situation of migrant workers in China's coastal areas under the new condition through research methods of questionnaire, interview and participation observation. Professor WEN Xiaoyi, Dean of the School of Labor Relations and Human Resources of CULR, differentiated and compared three concepts related to platform economy, and analyzed the impact of platform economy on labor relations in three aspects.

Professor YANG Dongmei, member of the Standing Committee of the Party committee of CULR and Dean of the School of Trade Unions, Associate Professor QIAO Jian, Director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Department, and Professor LIN Yanling presided over three forum sessions respectively. Professor YAN Xiaofei, member of the Standing Committee of the Party committee of CULR and Director of the Scientific Research Department of CULR, made a summary of the forum. More than 30 papers were received in the forum and participants spoke freely, discussed enthusiastically and exchanged views widely, which promoted the exchange among scholars at home and abroad in the field of trade unions and labor relations.

At the opening ceremony, Professor FENG Xiliang, on behalf of the Capital University of Economics and Business, presented to our school a calligraphy with the words “Devotion to Labor” to celebrate the 70th anniversary of CULR.

（Scientific Research Department）