Chinese construction workers to get better insurance

BEIJING - No construction permits will be given to projects in China which fail to provide workers with injury insurance.

The decision was made by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the State Administration of Work Safety and the All China Federation of Trade Unions.

China's construction sector employs nearly 45 million, including about 36 million migrant workers who are vulnerable to rights violations, said Hu Xiaoyi, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security.

Li Hongkui is one of them. He was hit by a falling object while working at a construction site in Beijing on Sept. 12, 2012. He spent almost a month in hospital and could barely work afterwards. With no labor contract he was unable to claim compensation.

Based on hundreds of construction sites he had visited, Li Dajun, organizer of a migrant workers' rights group, said nearly 90 percent of construction workers do not have contracts or insurance.

Lu Huilin of Peking University, said another problem is subcontracting to agents who are not qualified, an illegal practice that must be tackled.