Work unit

A work unit or danwei (<a href="/facts/Simplified_Chinese_characters/UcAD6xXs">simplified Chinese</a>: 单位; <a href="/facts/Traditional_Chinese_characters/bBFLkuz7">traditional Chinese</a>: 單位; <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: dān wèi) is the name given to a place of employment in the <a href="/facts/People%27s_Republic_of_China/lTjIXY5p">People's Republic of China</a>. The term danwei remains in use today, as people still use it to refer to their workplace. Prior to <a href="/facts/Deng_Xiaoping/qloJ6G8m">Deng Xiaoping</a>'s <a href="/facts/Chinese_economic_reform/fhdC9JDe">economic reforms</a>, a work unit acted as the first step of a multi-tiered hierarchy linking each individual with the <a href="/facts/Chinese_Communist_Party/MwS3Togt">Chinese Communist Party</a> infrastructure. Work units were the principal method of implementing party policy. The work unit provided lifetime employment and extensive socioeconomic welfare—"a significant feature of socialism and a historic right won through the <a href="/facts/Chinese_Communist_Revolution/beGJXD3H">Chinese Revolution</a>."

Work unit open-in-new

Work unit