On the Application of Chinese Labor Laws in the Foreign-related Labor Dispute

The stipulations on the applicable law to foreign-related labor relation in Chinese law are rather simple, and there are conflicts between the existing provisions.Foreign-related labor dispute is mainly governed by the law of country in which the employee carries out his work in performance of contract. In a case where an employee who works in China, dispute regarding his/her labor contract may be governed by Chinese labor and employment laws. However, it is a controversial problem that whether all of the mandatory rules in Chinese labor and employment laws should apply to the labor contract which the place of contract performance is in China. Foreign-related labor contract which the place of contract performance is outside of China may be governed by the foreign labor laws. While the labor standards in foreign law are lower than those in China, it can be directly governed by the mandatory rules in Chinese labor laws.