Many Chinese enterprises are shifting toward the green economy by shutting down outdated production facilities, decreasing overcapacity, saving energy, reducing emissions, updating equipment and technologies, and improving their capacity to innovate, while the Government has taken measures to change the economic development track and adjust the economic structure, as well as to promote public awareness of green(er) consumption. The transition to the green economy in China is seen as directly influencing job opportunities and employment quality in relevant sectors, while also influencing the scale and structure of employment throughout the whole economy.

In order to understand the employment impacts of enterprise restructuring in the transition to the green economy and promotion of decent work, a research study was conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) Green Jobs Programme for Asia and the Pacific and the ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) covering eight enterprises with different ownership systems and of different sizes within three sectors including metallurgy, building materials and energy. The research consisted of a desk review and enterprise field study. This paper presents the results of the research along with recommendations to enterprises and the Government.