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Abstract

This article explores the emergence of transnational regimes of regulation governing labour standards and how these impact and articulate in China. Specifically, the article addresses how domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in China communicate emergent regulatory norms and extend these into domestic domains, redefining how labour codes are developed and instantiated in local policy contexts and throughout the globalized value chains. It does so by adopting a qualitative case study approach to analyse how engagement with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) norms transforms labour-support organizations and their roles in labour negotiations, regulation and oversight. Using a case study approached focused in the Guangdong Province of China, the findings suggest that a transnational private regulation supports the development of local NGO activity and in turn transmits norms, modes of conduct and regulation that has a fundamental impact on how labour NGOs ensconce themselves and help transmit and construct regulatory practices that govern labour practices.