From AFP:

The number of labour-related law suits nearly doubled in China last year as layoffs spiked due to the global economic crisis, while a new employment law also kept the courts busy, state media reported Tuesday.

The number of lawsuits triggered by labour disputes across the country surged by 95 percent in 2008 from 2007, the China Daily said, citing Shen Deyong, vice president of the Supreme People’s Court.

Lawsuits nearly tripled in some eastern and southern coastal cities during the period, Shen said according to the report, which did not give actual figures for 2007 or 2008.