Summary of Mass Resistance Events in China (Published Partial Data) – March 2026
In March 2026, the “Yesterday” Project published a total of 76 resistance events that occurred across China. This month’s focal points were Lufeng and Xinyi in Guangdong Province, and Wuhan in Hubei Province. In Lufeng, over 10,000 citizens took to the streets to protest the authorities’ “firecracker ban.” In Xinyi, courageous villagers launched multi-day protests against the construction of a crematorium adjacent to their village, resulting in two violent clashes with police. In the Jiangxia District of Wuhan, hundreds of citizens repeatedly marched against polluting factories; meanwhile, in nearby Zuoling New Town, thousands of residents tore down toll gates across six residential compounds overnight, forcing property management to abandon the fees.
I. Composition of Protesting Groups (Total: 76)
Farmers: 16 cases (21.1%) —— The core group this month
Summary of Mass Protests in China (Published Cases) (February 2026)
In February 2026, a total of 43 mass protest events were recorded in China. Due to the Lunar New Year falling in this month, the number of mass protests saw a relative decline compared to usual.
I. Protesting Groups
Workers (18 incidents, 42%)
Composition: Construction workers (8), manufacturing workers (8), sanitation workers (2).
Core demands: All centered around labor-capital conflicts (demanding unpaid wages, protesting pay cuts, unreasonable shift/leave arrangements, company relocation evading compensation, etc.).
Families of the Deceased/Patients (6 incidents, 14%)
Seeking compensation for severe medical malpractice, seeking truth for a student’s suicide due to bullying, demanding accountability for an employee’s accidental death after a company drinking gathering, worker suicides, and resisting forced cremation (corpse-snatching conflicts), etc.
Farmers (5 incidents, 12%)
Resisting forced demolition, protesting environmental pollution by a cement plant, protesting the village committee’s unauthorized leasing of a collective school, demanding long-overdue land requisition compensation, etc.
Religious Believers (4 incidents, 9%)
Protesting the ban on traditional folk/deity-parading (Youshen) activities, protesting the authorities’ forced demolition of Mazu statues and ancestral halls.
Investors (2 incidents, 5%)
Mainly targeting financial investment fraud.
Other Groups (8 incidents, 18%)
Petitioners (2), students (1), corporate firefighters (1), community/substitute teachers (Min-Dai-You teachers) (1), military veterans (1), evictees (1), fishermen (1).
1 incident each in 7 other provinces/municipalities (Shanghai, Fujian, Xinjiang, Chongqing, Jilin, Liaoning, Jiangxi).
III. Triggers and Causes
Worker Wage Arrears and Labor Conflicts (19 incidents, 44%): Unpaid wages, pay cuts, laid-off firefighters denied compensation, uncompensated company relocations, unreasonable Spring Festival leave arrangements, etc.
Conflicts between Public Power and Livelihood (13 incidents, 30%): Forced demolition of civilian homes/ancestral halls/temples and fishing rafts, defaulted demolition and land requisition compensation, bans on folk and deity-parading activities, unfair veteran resettlement, government corpse-snatching for forced cremation, cement plant pollution, etc.
Social Bottom Line and Trust Crises (7 incidents, 16%): Fatal medical malpractice, student suicide due to teacher bullying, worker jumping to death, demanding accountability for an employee’s accidental death at a gathering, lack of pension for community/substitute teachers, and a student “uprising” triggered by a school restricting personal freedom, etc.
Financial and Investment Fraud (2 incidents, 5%): Investment platform scams leading to collective petitioning by investors.
Blocked Petitioning/Rights Defense (2 incidents, 5%): Petitioners being violently intercepted, such as being bound with duct tape at train stations.
IV. Scale and Size Statistics
1-9 people: 3 incidents (7%)
10-99 people: 32 incidents (74%)
100-999 people: 8 incidents (19%). (Including: Uprising by students smashing school buildings in Dezhou, Shandong; strike by sanitation workers in Zhongshan, Guangdong; strike by workers at Hoshine Silicon in Xinjiang; strike by BYD workers in Xi’an; standoff by religious believers in Xi’an; strike by workers at Yura Corporation in Heze, Shandong; farmers blocking roads in Shaoyang, Hunan; farmers occupying the town government in Tangshan, Hebei).
V. Police Deployment and Violent Suppression
Police Presence Rate: Approx. 63% (police were deployed in 27 incidents).
Violent Dispersal or Arrests: In 10 incidents, clear violence, beatings, binding, or arrests of protesters by police occurred (accounting for 23% of total incidents).
Suppression Characteristics: Violent police arrests were mainly concentrated in “wage-demand protests,” “families demanding accountability,” and “land/forced demolition protests” (e.g., police in Dongguan tying up wage-demanding workers; police violently expelling wage-demanding workers at Wuhu Shipyard in Weihai; violent obstruction of ancestral hall construction in Zhangshan Town, Ji’an; clashes triggered by police entering a village to snatch a corpse in Fuyuan, Yunnan).
(Note: Because the Gaoyou event involved workers from three independent factories demanding unpaid wages, it is counted as three incidents.)
Core demands: All revolved around labor conflicts (demanding unpaid wages, protesting pay cuts, secret factory relocations to evade compensation, etc.).
Homeowners (7 incidents, 14%)
Demanding homes from unfinished (rotten-tail) housing projects, protesting developers’ false advertising, and boycotting arbitrary parking fees charged by property management.
Investors (7 incidents, 14%)
Primarily targeting financial wealth management fraud/absconding, and the collapse of gold and jewelry platforms (such as the Shenzhen Shuibei incident).
Farmers (6 incidents, 12%)
Resisting forced land requisition and occupation by the government or village bullies, demanding massive grain payments in arrears for years, and opposing forced cremations.
Families of the Deceased/Patients (5 incidents, 10%)
Seeking the truth behind bizarre campus deaths and fatal bullying incidents, as well as demanding compensation for severe medical malpractice.
Other Groups (8 incidents, 16%)
Students (2), street vendors (2), netizens (1), religious believers (1), bank depositors (1), and community/substitute/kindergarten teachers (1).
II. Geographic Distribution
Guangdong: 8 incidents (all concentrated in Shenzhen, dominated by the jewelry platform collapse and labor strikes);
Worker Unpaid Wages and Labor Conflicts (17 incidents, 34%): Enterprises absconding with unpaid wages, pay cuts, uncompensated factory closures/relocations, forced monopolies on workers’ food, etc.
Public Power and Livelihood Conflicts (9 incidents, 18%): Chengguan (urban management) violently confiscating vendors’ equipment, government/village bullies forcibly requisitioning and occupying land, owing farmers tens of millions in grain payments, forced demolition of self-funded village temples, and the forced implementation of cremation policies.
Real Estate Chaos and Unfinished Buildings (8 incidents, 16%): Unfinished farmer resettlement housing and commercial housing, developers’ false advertising, arbitrary property fees, and illegal constructions.
Social Bottom-Line and Trust Crisis (8 incidents, 16%): Schools covering up the truth of student deaths, fatal campus bullying, hospitals’ severe misdiagnoses and refusal to take responsibility, schools illegally canceling holidays and forcing students to stay on campus.
Financial and Investment Collapse (7 incidents, 14%): Default and absconding in private wealth management, the multi-billion yuan fraud collapse of the Shenzhen Shuibei gold and jewelry platform, etc.
Bank Depositors’ Rights Defense (1 incident, 2%): Postal Savings Bank branches defrauding depositors by converting “deposits into insurance.”
IV. Scale of Protests
1-9 people: 6 incidents (12%)
10-99 people: 28 incidents (56%)
100-999 people: 11 incidents (22%)
1,000-9,999 people: 5 incidents (10%). (Including: the strike of thousands of workers at Markor Home Furnishings in Tianjin, thousands of farmers protesting forced cremation in Yunnan, a gathering of over a thousand netizens in Ningbo, a thousand students charging out of the school gates in Guigang, Guangxi, and protests by thousands of investors in Shenzhen).
V. Police Deployment and Violent Suppression
Police Presence Rate: As high as 68% (Police were deployed to maintain stability in a total of 34 incidents).
Violent Dispersal or Arrests: In 17 incidents, police explicitly used violence, beatings, or arrested rights defenders (accounting for 34% of total incidents).
Characteristics of Suppression/Stability Maintenance: Violent police arrests were highly concentrated in “Investor/Homeowner Rights Defense” and “Farmer Land-Related Rights Defense” (e.g., the Shenzhen Shuibei conflicts, Changsha homeowners blocking roads in Hunan, and farmer gatherings in Inner Mongolia). In contrast, in incidents solely involving construction workers demanding unpaid wages, although police frequently arrived to maintain order, they rarely directly arrested the protesting workers.
(Note: If the same event occurred on two different dates, it is counted as two separate incidents.)
“22 Strikes in 33 Days: Manufacturing Workers’ Strikes Under the Double Pressure of Economic Downturn and ‘Mandatory Social Insurance’”
Over the past month, China’s manufacturing industry has witnessed a wave of consecutive workers’ strikes. On factory floors, assembly lines, and in industrial parks, scenes of collective walkouts and labor protests have repeatedly unfolded.
Behind this strike wave lie two major pressures: plummeting orders caused by the economic downturn, and surging operating costs driven by the rollout of the “mandatory social insurance” policy, which has placed enormous burdens on small- and medium-sized enterprises. These pressures have already pushed many companies into bankruptcy. Of the 22 labor disputes we tracked, nine factories have already declared bankruptcy, while the rest are under immense financial strain. Yet the consequences are not borne by businesses alone. For ordinary workers, the costs are shifted down onto them, resulting in wage cuts, unpaid wages, uncompensated layoffs, and uncompensated relocations.
According to Yesterday Channel’s statistics, from August 1 to September 2, 2025 — just 33 days — there were 22 collective labor actions across China’s manufacturing sector. These cases spanned pharmaceuticals, textiles, aerospace, packaging, auto parts, and semiconductors. They not only highlight the intensifying conflicts between labor and management but also reveal the precarious situation manufacturing workers now face.
The 22 incidents are as follows:
Aug 1 – Workers at Fengyuan Shoe Factory, Daoxian County, Yongzhou, Hunan, went on strike demanding higher wages, as their monthly pay was only RMB 1,500.
Aug 1 – Workers at Zhongguangdian Communications Technology Co., Ltd., Heyuan, Guangdong, struck to protest relocation without compensation and unpaid wages. The factory had already moved to Jiangxi in April, and management withheld wages to force unwilling workers to quit.
Aug 6–7 – Dozens of laid-off employees at Guoyao Lerentang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. protested for severance. Although the company promised in writing on June 1 to resolve compensation, a month later it reneged and even forced long-serving employees to “prove their work years.”
Aug 7 & 9 – Over 100 workers at Yiji Garment Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Qingyuan, Guangdong, went on strike after the company unilaterally slashed wages by 40%. Workers said the cut made survival impossible.
Aug 8–11 – Around 200 workers at Guangzhou Kaiyi Paper Packaging Co., Ltd. protested for several days to demand unpaid wages. On Aug 8, the company suddenly declared bankruptcy and the owner disappeared. With profits of only RMB 150,000–240,000 per month, the firm could not withstand the extra RMB 500,000 monthly cost of the upcoming September social insurance requirements, leading to a cash flow collapse.
Aug 8 – Hundreds of workers at Shanghai Guoli Automotive Leather Interiors Co., Ltd. protested again, demanding fairer severance pay. The proposed compensation was “RMB 2,740 per year of service,” which workers called “the lowest in Shanghai.” The company had already faced protests last November for unpaid wages and disguised layoffs, during which several workers were arrested.
Aug 11–13 – Employees at Leisong Technology Co., Ltd., Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, went on a three-day strike demanding compensation for relocation to Huizhou. Workers said equipment was being moved secretly, but no commitment on compensation was given.
Aug 11–14 – After Shenzhen Advanced Semiconductor Equipment Co., Ltd. dissolved, nearly 1,000 employees held four days of protests, eventually winning “N + 3 + RMB 3,000” compensation.
Aug 11 – Idle employees of Chongqing Beida Pharmaceutical protested the company’s demand that workers idled for seven years undergo retraining. Workers believed this was a ploy to force them to quit, and the company never clarified job positions, nature, location, or pay.
Aug 12 – Over 1,000 workers at Aerospace Zhenbang Precision Machinery Co., Ltd., Gu’an County, Langfang, Hebei, went on strike over months of unpaid wages. Founded in 2010, the company employs 1,500 workers and supplies major projects such as Shenzhou manned spacecraft and the BeiDou satellite system.
Aug 14–15 – Workers at Shenzhen Huaren Beverage Co., Ltd., Guangdong (a subsidiary of state-owned China Resources, best known for its “C’estbon” bottled water brand), went on strike to protest relocation without compensation.
Aug 20–21 – BYD workers at Suqiao, Guilin, Guangxi, went on strike demanding enforcement of Guilin City’s minimum wage of RMB 2,200. BYD insisted on applying the RMB 1,870 standard for Yongfu County. With government intervention, the strike failed.
Aug 21 – 2,000 workers at Maorui Electronics Factory, Dongguan, Guangdong, went on strike over uncompensated relocation. Workers said the company was moving operations from Niushan to Qingxi, but refused compensation while secretly relocating equipment.
Aug 23–25 – After Yigao Garment Factory, Xintang Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou, collapsed, workers protested for three days demanding owed wages.
Aug 27 – At Minghao Electronics’ Yilu branch, Guanyun County, Jiangsu, workers were told of another two-month suspension after already being off work for two months, with no allowance. Unlike its other two branches, Yilu workers had no social insurance. After the labor bureau required coverage, the employer extended suspension to avoid costs and compensation. Workers’ appeals to the county government went unanswered.
Aug 28–29 – Workers at Qisi Intelligent Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Zhuhai, Guangdong, protested the company’s three-month “vacation,” meant to avoid relocation compensation after moving operations to Dongguan.
Aug 27–Sep 1 – After Dingliang Fire Technology Co., Ltd., Shandong, collapsed, 700 workers guarded the factory gates for six days demanding four months of unpaid wages.
Aug 30–Sep 1 – After Jiali Garment Co., Ltd., Lianyuan, Hunan, collapsed, workers protested for three days demanding compensation.
Sep 1 – Hundreds of workers at Xinde Industrial Weaving Co., Ltd., Jiangxi, struck over four months of unpaid wages.
Sep 2 – Workers at Xinjinglong Paper Mill, Hengshan County, Hunan, protested six months of unpaid wages. The plant has already gone bankrupt.
Sep 2 – After Andaoer Technology Co., Ltd., Dongguan, Guangdong, collapsed, workers protested for owed wages.
Sep 2 – Hundreds of workers at Hong Kong-funded Yinte Metal Products Co., Ltd., Foshan, Guangdong, went on strike over pending factory closure and demanded compensation.
These 22 strikes and protests are both isolated incidents and collective echoes of a shared predicament. For workers, strikes are not radical acts of confrontation, but the last resort when all options are exhausted. Through these repeated collective actions, workers have demonstrated stronger solidarity and awareness of their rights. It is foreseeable that this wave of grassroots labor actions will continue in the coming period.
On May 28th, in Liantang Town, Hengzhou City, Nanning, Guangxi, the local government deployed a large number of police officers, special forces, and government… pic.twitter.com/RGUMNdEOsz
