1) There are government-run employment agencies which centralize job offers and requests but theoretically, the employee can refuse the job found for him/her. [Tsien Tche-Hao, Le Droit Chinois (Paris: Les Presses Universitaires de France, 1982), p. 107.] Both employee and employer must accept the arrangement unless there are serious objections. [Ibid.] Since 1977 work units are permitted to recruit directly. [Ibid.] From the information available to the IRBDC it does not appear that a work permit is required in the PRC. Changing jobs is difficult, though, because the management of work units are reluctant to give the necessary permission. [U.S Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989), p. 776.] Licensing has also been done away with. [Op. cit., Tsien Tche-Hao, p. 108.] However, it has also been reported that the regulations regarding private enterprises are somewhat vague and subject to varying application. [Louise do Rosario, "The Private Dilemma", Far Eastern Economic Review, 20 November 1986, pp. 28-29.] Special identity cards are necessary for employment in the special economic zones. [Op. cit., U.S. Department of State.]

2) See above. For your information, a copy of an article outlining the reforms in the Chinese labour market is attached.

3) As is pointed out in the World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties Vol. l, the Chinese Communist Party is actually a small elite of less than four percent of the country's population, even though at 40 million members it is the world's largest communist party. Therefore, it would appear that refusal to join the Communist Party would only entail a certain loss of opportunity, given the Party's major role in Chinese society and its control of the state apparatus. The attached articles from Le Monde, The Financial Times, and The New York Times Magazine provide an overview of the Party's position in Chinese society and the power and benefits accruing to its members.