China's economy has made rapid developmentand became the second largest economy in the world after the reform and openingup. The outstanding economic environment and the inclusive attitude makeChina's economic exchanges. Under the cooperation with different countriesfrequently, China also attracted a large number of foreign populations toChina. The purpose of foreign coming to China is not only for short-termsightseeing, visiting relatives and business visits, but also for working inChina.
According to the data of the National Bureauof statistics, from 2010 to 2015, the entry of foreign tourists in China isbasically at a relatively flat level. The highest peak appeared in 2012, andexceeded twenty-seven million people. With the stringent requirements ofChina's review, the number of people in the two years has declined. However,the number and proportion of people who work in China are increasing year byyear, and their share has exceeded thirteen percent. International labor forcehas become a part of Chinese society that can’t be ignored.
With thedevelopment of domestic economy, the strength of China's middle class inmainland has been promoted and stabilized. People's demand for quality of lifehas been raised. Meanwhile, with the advent of the "two child" policyand the age of population aging, the demand for domestic service in our countryhas shown an explosive growth.
The home affairsservice industry development report of 2015 and 2016, published by the Ministryof Commerce, showed that the domestic revenue of domestic service industry was277 billion 600 million in 2015, up to 20% from the same period. In 2016, thedomestic revenue of domestic service industry achieved 349 billion 800 million,up 26% from the same period.
Nevertheless, the problem of irregularmarket economy, unprofessional homemaking service and low quality ofhousekeepers in mainland China has been criticized by consumers for a long time.The market gap of high-end professional home service industry is expanding. Drivenby demand, the domestic market has been into the mainland quietly.
According to the current law of China, FDHsare still not open market, only Hong Kong or Macao high level talents and apart of foreign talent, who obtain permanent residence qualification in Chinaor hold a work type residence permit, are allowed to hire foreign domesticservice personnel. The ordinary family hiring FDHs is not legitimate. In mainlandChina, FDHs staff did not obtain employment license, so the maid has the riskof being arrested and sent back to the country.
In mainland China, the maid, likeCinderella, must bear all the housework, and have to hide her identity and becareful to live at the same time.
China's neighbouring countries, Japan, haveliberalized the domestic market of Tokyo and Osaka last year. This is of greatsignificance for foreigners to enter the Japanese labor market, and also alleviatethe shortage of labor force, caused by the aging of minority population, andthe shortage of caregivers in Japan to a certain extent.
In 1970s the first batch of Filipinos began towork in Hong Kong, they are now working in China has more than 30 years. InHong Kong and Macao, it is legal to employ domestic servants to engage indomestic services. According to the Hong Kong Legislative Council's research onthe foreign labour market in Hong Kong in 2017, we found that by the end of2016, about 11% of households in Hong Kong had employed foreign servants. Thepopulation of the domestic workers in Hong Kong was growing after 1970. Inparticular, over the past 20 years, a multiplier situation has emerged. By2016, it had increased to 352 thousand, and the proportion of the totalemployed population rose from 5.3% 20 years ago to 9.3% in 2016. There areabout 189 thousand Filipino in Hong Kong at present, including 154 thousandIndonesian domestic helpers which account for the total number of FDHs 98%. Inaddition, Hong Kong also has foreign servants from South Asia and otherSoutheast Asian regions, such as India, Thailand, Burma and Bangladesh.
The Philippine maid is known as "theworld's most professional nanny". Compared with domestic local domesticservice personnel, the Philippine maid enjoy high quality, have received professionaloccupation training and their occupation identity is also strong. Asia Weekpointed out that, although employ FDHs in mainland Chinese are not legitimate,the Philippine maid to work on the mainland at the early time, and the numberhas more than 200 thousand, even forming a chain. Employers say that althoughthere are differences in language and culture, they need to adapt at the beginningof communication. But FDHs have a high degree of obedience, respect foremployers' privacy and less personal matters. For the employer is not sure ofthe background and the personal character of FDHs, the domestic companies willput the FDHs visa and other personal documents information to the the employerwhen the FDHs received to home, until the end of the engagement period, whichis the effective measure to prevent the FDHs steal and leave.
In general, domestic work in the mainland ofChina can’t rely on the work of domestic services to get a work visa. Therefore,there are three main ways for foreign workers to enter China now. They areworking as teachers or trainers to get a work visa, or they get a work visa toa company that they employer ran, or directly handle a short-term travel visa.From 2010 to 2015, the number of Southeast Asian countries such as Philippinesand Indonesia increased. The visas showed that tourism and service were themain purpose of this group's coming to China.
Guangzhou's home office staff said that theage of the migrant workers who came in the mainland of China is usually 25-40years old, and now they are mainly from Philippines, Indonesia and Burma. Thewage level will differ because of different nationalities, the Philippine maida monthly salary is 6000 Yuan, Indonesia FDHs salary is 5500 Yuan and BurmaFDHs salary is 5000 Yuan. They have four days of rest days a month, and theemployer should add 600 Yuan to the whole month working without rest.
The unsigned foreign servants are not inChina usually. The agency will send the information of the foreign employee tothe employer when they need, then interviewing will through video. Until thecontract is signed, the whole process takes about a month. When the employerdetermines which person is selected, he has to pay ten thousand Yuan for theagency as the deposit. Latter, the agency will go through the formalities andpurchase air tickets for the foreign servants. When the maid is received athome, the two parties sign a contract which period is usually one year, and theintermediary company will give the personal documents of the maid to theemployer for safekeeping. Then the employer pays another ten thousand Yuan forthe intermediary fee. And the agency also asked the maid to pay her four-monthssalary as the intermediary fee she had to pay for working in China. As aresult, about forty thousand Yuan for intermediary fees will be obtained by intermediarycompany if they are successful in signing a maid.
The photo shows the maid cooking in the employer's house（by许舜钿）
The work of foreign workers is still in thegray area in mainland China. There is a lack of unified formal visa path andlack of effective management, which makes the rights of both employers andforeign servants not protected by law. Employers need a sense of protection bylaw, and domestic workers, like Cinderella, also need a sense of legal securityfor their own labor. In the face of the current situation of strong demand, itis not the most effective way to prohibit the FDHs. Many experts have proposedthat allowing foreign workers to enter the domestic market in mainland China maybean effective measure to fill the gap of China's high-end home service, and alsoto stimulate more standardized and professional development of the mainland's domesticservice industry. As economic exchanges become more frequent, China willattract international labor force as a central country in the future world, notonly for high-end talents, but also for ordinary working people. Do a good jobin the management of the international labor force and bring them into thejurisdiction of the law. This is what China must face in the future, and isalso an important aspect of showing the tolerance of the great powers andkeeping pace with the times.
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