The core of China’s modern labour law regime – namely, labour standards enforced by regulatory agencies and private litigation – largely resembles that of modern market economies. But two of its institutional features are more distinctive: First, China’s constitutional commitment to ‘democratic management’ of enterprises; and second, the Party’s insistence on exclusive control of the collective representation of workers through the monopolistic All-China Federation of Trade Unions. The first seems to reflect ‘socialist’ commitments, but is very weakly institutionalised. The second may or may not be ‘socialist,’ but is deeply entrenched and assiduously maintained. The suppression of independent worker organizations reflects China’s intense preoccupation with ‘stability maintenance,’ and accordingly shapes nearly every aspect of China’s contemporary labour regime, including mechanisms for processing individual labor disputes as well as the response to wildcat strikes and the system of collective consultation. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the definitional question posed in its title.