This chapter applies the framework of institutional change from Chapter 5 to the change in labor institutions in China. It offers an interpretation of the Chinese growth model as one currently changing from an extensive to an intensive developmental strategy. The space for collective bargaining and coordination is growing in recognition of the increase in structural labor power (importance of manufacturing to the economy as a whole and possible damage incurred by strikes). However, it is also constricted by the obstacles presented to labor organization (associational power), with independent organization being viewed as a competitor to the Party monopoly of political power. This chapter firstly surveys the labor institutions in China and their changes through the Northian triangle of formal, informal, and avoidable institutions and points to their changes. Secondly, it analyzes the seven drivers of change through their three channels of change (with the dominant role played by institutional design). Thirdly, it offers a view of social consequences of these shifts with income inequality rapidly rising from the mid-1980s to 2007 and somewhat decreasing since.