On September 3 in Beijing, just 3.3 kilometers away from Tiananmen, the site of the CCP’s “9.3” military parade, the State Bureau for Letters and Calls was still packed with crowds
“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 September 2, in Foshan, Guangdong, the Hong Kong–funded Yinte Metal Products Co., Ltd. faced closure. Hundreds of workers went on strike demanding compensation.
On September 1, retired workers of Kailuan Group in Tangshan, Hebei, blocked the road in front of the company to protest the group’s withholding of a 3,000-yuan “only-child allowance.”
On September 1, at the gate of Yunpeng Pharmaceutical Factory in Xiangfen County, Linfen, Shanxi Province, several workers demanding their pay were forcibly dragged inside by staff of Yunpeng Pharmaceutical. According to the workers, their wages have been in arrears for a full year.
From August 27 to September 1, after Shandong Dingliang Fire Protection Technology Co., Ltd. went bankrupt, 700 workers stayed at the factory and blocked the gates for six consecutive days to demand four months of unpaid wages. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Fangzi District, Weifang, Shandong Province, Shandong Dingliang Fire Protection Technology Co., Ltd. was a large private enterprise engaged in the research, production, and sales of fire protection equipment.
On Monday (September 1), workers at Jiangxi Xinde Industrial Weaving Co., Ltd. went on strike after going four months without receiving wages. Public information shows that Jiangxi Xinde, founded in 2018 and located in Xinfeng County, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, is a Hong Kong-funded enterprise with 900 to 1,000 employees.
[Parents in Datong, Shanxi Clash with Police Over Unfair School Allocation]
On the evening of August 31, at the Wenhan branch of Datong Experimental Primary School in Shanxi, parents defending their rights clashed with police. To protest the school’s decision to relocate students from grades 2 to 5 to a nursing school for classes, hundreds of parents from Wenhan Primary launched a rights defense action that was still ongoing as of September 1. In addition, for the same reason, hundreds of parents from the Yonghe campus of Datong Experimental Primary also staged protests for three consecutive days from August 30 to September 1.
On September 1, bus drivers in Xingning, Guangdong went on strike to protest the government’s delay in subsidy payments. The striking drivers said that because the government has long withheld subsidies for free ride cards, their income is not even enough to cover fuel, insurance, repair costs, and other expenses. As a result, they have been running at a loss for a long time and their livelihoods have fallen into hardship.