China considers further limits on outsourced labor

Lawmakers proposed on Dec 24 further limiting the use of outsourced labor in the country.

State-owned enterprises and public institutions and industries — including telecommunications, finance and banking — would be among the industries affected.

Monday's draft of the amendment to the Labor Contract Law, submitted for lawmakers' second reading, required the State Council to work out a regulation to limit the percentage of outsourced workers in a company's total workforce. It also doubles the registered capital of companies that send outsourced workers to employers, to 2 million yuan ($320,700). The first reading required 1 million yuan of registered capital.

More than 60 million outsourced laborers currently work in China, accounting for nearly 20 percent of its urban workforce, according to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.