Central state-owned enterprises China Railway and China Construction Group owe wages, with dozens of salary disputes occurring within two months

[新幹線]

From April to May 2025, within just two months, dozens of wage arrears protests broke out nationwide involving central state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Nearly all central SOE construction subsidiaries, including China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), were implicated. The incidents spanned regions from Guangdong, Shenzhen to Shandong, Henan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Shaanxi, and more. Workers were forced to “block doors,” “sleep on the ground,” and “jump off buildings,” with some incidents involving vandalism and direct confrontations.

May 31: China Railway Seventh Group Co., Ltd., Dongguan-Shenzhen Expressway expansion project, first contract section, project department party committee, wage arrears, workers blocked the entrance to demand wages.
May 31: China Railway Eighteenth Bureau, Linyi City, Lanling County, Shandong Province, Ruifuyuan project wage arrears, workers demanded wages at the project office.
May 30: Jiangsu China Railway Construction Engineering Group, Jiangsu Public Building Center project wage arrears, workers demanded wages at the leadership office.
May 30: Sichuan China Railway Second Bureau, worked for half a year without pay, workers demanded wages in the meeting room.
May 30: Shandong China Railway, Lanling County, Lanling Town Fuyuan Community Construction Project (Phase IV) general contracting wage arrears, workers helplessly exposed the issue via video to demand wages.
May 30: Henan China Railway Fourteenth Bureau, contractor for Zhengzhou International Bulk Commodity Trading Center Project (Phase I) EPC general contracting wage arrears, workers used a loader to block the door to demand wages.
May 26: China Railway Twenty-First Bureau, new Jinan to Zaozhuang railway civil engineering JzTJ-1 section project manager department first division workers demanded wages.
May 25: China Railway Twenty-Fifth Bureau, Shao Yong railway project department workers demanded wages.
May 22: China Railway Beijing Engineering Bureau Group Second Engineering Company workers demanded wages.
May 21: China Railway Huatie Engineering Design Group Co., Ltd., rural comprehensive reform pilot project wage arrears, workers smashed glass with hammers in anger.
May 20: Zhengzhou, Henan, China Railway, China Railway Third Bureau Group Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Airport Economic Comprehensive Experimental Zone renovation project wage arrears.
May 20: China Railway Seventeenth Bureau Fifth Company, Changchun Metro Line 7 Jiugong District wage arrears.
May 19: Guangdong, China Railway Seventh Group Co., Ltd., Yangxin Expressway civil engineering section 10 project wage arrears, workers demanded wages at the manager office first division.
May 17: Guangxi, China Railway Third Bureau wage arrears, workers jumped off buildings to demand wages.
May 12: Nanning, Guangxi, China Railway Nineteenth Bureau Group Nanning North Station project wage arrears for migrant workers, workers set up beds and slept at the company entrance to demand wages.
March 28: Thailand, China Railway Tenth Bureau Group contracted the Thai Audit Office building, the only high-rise collapsed in the Bangkok earthquake caused by the Myanmar quake.

Within half a month, at least 16 wage arrears incidents related to railway construction central SOEs have been exposed.
Not only the ministerial-level central SOE CRCC has recently been exposed for massive wage arrears, but also the ministerial-level central SOE solely owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), China State Construction Group, has exposed at least 11 wage arrears incidents in the past month.

May 27: China State Construction Seventh Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd., Guangzhou branch wage arrears, workers demanded wages.
May 27: Guangdong, China State Construction Xinjiang Construction wage arrears, basic living expenses have not been paid for several months this year. Workers blocked the door to demand wages.
May 24: Guangdong China State Construction First Group wage arrears to workers. Workers helplessly blocked the main gate to demand wages. Comments hinted at “Brother 800.”
May 23: Guizhou China State Construction Third Bureau wage arrears, workers blocked the entrance to demand wages.
May 20: Shaanxi China State Construction Seventh Bureau Fourth Company, Xi’an Xingping Second People’s Hospital, China State Construction Seventh Bureau office building project wage arrears, workers jumped off buildings to demand wages.
May 17: Shenzhen China State Construction Fifth Bureau Third Company wage arrears, workers blocked the office to demand wages.
May 13: Shenzhen China State Construction Third Bureau wage arrears, migrant workers jumped off buildings to demand wages.
May 10: China State Construction Third Bureau Shenzhen Dongjiang Science Park project wage arrears, workers demanded wages and defended their rights. They said several nearby construction sites are the same.
May 9: Shenzhen Lujing Baishizhou China State Construction Third Bureau wage arrears, workers blocked the main gate to demand wages. Later, a netizen commented below: China State Construction Eighth Bureau is the same, the project done by Xu Xiao in Longling in 2023 has been delayed in payment until 2025.
April 30: Shenzhen Antuoshan, China State Construction Fifth Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd. wage arrears, workers jumped off buildings to demand wages.
April 27: Employees of China State Construction across various locations exposed that the China State Construction Group branches nationwide have only paid one month’s salary this year.

China Railway (under China Railway Construction Group) and China State Construction Group (CSCEC), both ministerial-level super-large central SOEs directly supervised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, wage arrears are not simply wage issues. Essentially, they represent bureaucratic monopoly capital highly integrated with state power and monopoly financial capital. Currently, China is still vigorously implementing Keynesianism, sharpening the fundamental contradictions of domestic capitalist society, with growing fiscal deficits and mounting debts. Construction workers are brutally exploited while profits are prioritized to repay debts and maintain monopoly groups’ interests. The “Labor Law” and “Regulations on Guaranteeing Payment of Migrant Workers’ Wages” are effectively nullified. Local human resources and social security bureaus, trade unions, and public security organs only perform “stability maintenance” functions, representing naked class oppression and rule.

[新幹線]

On June 1st, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang. The China State Construction Engineering Second Bureau’s 210,000-ton monosodium glutamate project in Fuyu County owes wages to 16 migrant workers for a year, with no one paying attention.

[新幹線]

On June 2nd, Sichuan China Railway Real Estate was exposed for requiring employees to return taxi expenses incurred during business trips from 2022 to 2025.
Its parent company, China Railway Group, has been reported to have at least 17 wage arrears incidents within half a month.
China Railway Real Estate stated that the daily subsidy of 200 yuan should already include transportation expenses, so they requested the return of taxi fees reimbursed over the past three years. Due to the large amount involved, this has caused strong dissatisfaction among employees. This practice was questioned by employees as “settling accounts after the fact,” wondering if the group is short on money.

[新幹線]

On June 3, in Nanning, Guangxi, the Guangxi Construction Group Co., Ltd. (a state-owned enterprise directly under the Guangxi region) delayed workers’ wages, and the workers angrily placed dump trucks sideways at the group’s entrance to block the gate and demand payment.
On June 3, in Shenzhen, Guangdong, the Guangming Junior High School project managed by China State Construction Deep Decoration was halted for a month, with no wages or living expenses paid to the workers.

On June 4, Guangxi Construction Group (a state-owned enterprise directly under Guangxi) delayed wages at the China-ASEAN Medical and Health Cooperation Center project, and workers held banners to demand payment.
On June 4, in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China Construction Science & Industry Group Co., Ltd., at the Baiyun Airport Phase III expansion project surrounding the airport economic industrial park infrastructure construction Phase III project (Xiaozhai—Pingshan Phase II (second batch) design and construction general contracting (Section Two)) delayed wages, and the workers helplessly used a concrete mixer truck to block the entrance to demand payment.
On June 4, in Jiangxi, Jiangxi Weizheng Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. delayed wages, and workers helplessly blocked the boss’s office to demand payment. The boss’s office wall still hung the Communist Party emblem and slogans: “Never forget the original intention, forge ahead.”
On June 4, in Xi’an, Shaanxi, China Railway Construction Engineering Liangcun Yuan Village comprehensive renovation project. The general contractor China Railway Construction Engineering Group maliciously delayed wages and absconded, and the workers helplessly blocked the door to demand payment.
On June 4, Zhejiang Zhende Medical Supplies Co., Ltd. delayed workers’ wages for more than two years, and the workers helplessly could only block the door to demand payment.
On June 4, Guangdong, China State Construction Eighth Engineering Division, China Merchants Bank Headquarters project delayed wages, and workers blocked the door to demand payment.
On June 4, in Daozhen County, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, at the Minsheng Natural Gas Station, due to wage arrears, angry workers directly drove a loader onto the stairs at the entrance, completely blocking the lobby entrance. The poster said they worked for them for a whole year in 2024, but not a penny of wages was paid.
On June 4, China State Construction Eighth Bureau, Sichuan Huaikou Talent Apartment project delayed wages, and workers helplessly blocked the door to demand payment.

On June 5, Shaanxi, Shaanxi Construction, Liu Construction Group delayed wages, and workers blocked the door to demand payment.
On June 5, Shandong, China Railway First Bureau, Weisu High-speed Rail Station Section Three Project Manager Department Second Division delayed wages, and workers demanded payment. The poster said they worked at China Railway First Bureau, but the bureau did not pay wages! Yesterday they were tricked into signing, and today they said they do not recognize it!