The Challenge of the Social Dimensions Under Globalization for Social Security in China

At this very moment, the international community is busy preparing for and fomenting sets of "social rules" that have at their core the formulation of fundamental labor standards to be recognized and implemented internationally. Preparations are also being made to link these rules to the World Trade Organization (WTO), so as to resolve the very serious social problems that economic globalization has brought, and to regulate competition in international trade. Since different countries around the world have different social systems and their economies are at different stages and levels of growth and development, the implementation of these "social rules" will have different types of impact on different nations. As China accelerates its participation in the process of globalization and, in particular, after it joins the WTO, it will very quickly be confronted with enormous pressure from these social rules. Labor legislation, as well as the state of employment and of labor relations in China will suffer a direct impact, and this in turn will influence our country's economic growth and development as well as its social progress. Therefore it has become essential for us to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of these so-called social rules comprehensively and accurately, and understand the positive as well as negative influences that they may have on our country and society. We need to come up with countermeasures, be able to grasp the big picture, and take the initiative in formulating a policy strategy for dealing with this issue in order to avoid damaging pitfalls and instead reap the advantages that can come out of this situation.