No construction permits will be given to projects in China which fail to provide workers with injury insurance.
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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.
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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.
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Li Hongkui is one of them. He was hit by a falling object while working at a construction site in Beijing on 12 September, 2012. He spent almost a month in hospital and could barely work afterwards. With no labor contract he was unable to claim compensation.
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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.Â
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Lu Huilin of Peking University said another problem is subcontracting to agents, who are not qualified, an illegal practice that must be tackled.