This is a law for China, but it has become something of a tussle between U.S. businesses and U.S. labor unions. No surprise there. U.S. labor would like to reduce the advantages that employers have in setting up shop in China and moving U.S. jobs there. Business doesn't want to lose the cost advantages it has found in using Chinese workers.

The most welcome development is that Chinese workers have had any say at all in the discussion on the proposed law. In March 2006, the People's Congress issued a draft of it for public comment -- the only time in recent memory that has happened. Lawmakers received 191,849 comments. According to China Daily, only the 1954 draft constitution received more feedback.

To state the obvious, this is a good thing.

Americans -- both in the government and the business community -- have long argued that increased liberalization of China's economic policies would have the beneficial corollary of leading to a more democratic state. "American business plays an important role as a catalyst for positive social change by promoting human welfare and the principles of free enterprise," the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong says.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in a December 2003 speech at Harvard, "If no effective measures are taken to protect the fundamental rights of our massive labor force, and in particular the farmer workers coming to the cities, they may end up a miserable plight. ..."

This is probably a law that firms operating in China can live with. Pushback from American and European companies during the draft comment period has led the People's Congress to scale back some worker protections and severely circumscribe unions.

Business leaders continue to agitate for more concessions. But in the long run, they're likely to bet that, even without more changes in the law, a predictable labor market and a more democratic China will continue to pay high dividends.