The delay has been due to a surprising development: Beijing solicited public comments on the draft, and received nearly 200,000 responses.

The cautious steps toward greater transparency reflect both the state's desire to retain popular support and its need to ensure laws are suited to the ever-more complex economy and society.

Observers say the government has appeared genuinely responsive to concerns raised by the proposed labor law.

Meanwhile, business lobbies are worried that new restrictions could raise costs and reduce the flexibility to hire and fire.

Serge Janssens de Varebeke, former president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, warned that the "strict regulations" could raise production costs and "force foreign companies to reconsider new investments or continuing their activities in China."

After months of deliberation on the original draft, lawmakers published a new version in late December, with substantial changes.

One of the most significant revisions appears to weaken the role of trade unions.

The second draft also made numerous changes to language governing probation periods, noncompete agreements, layoffs and collective bargaining.

"There was some retreat" in the latest draft, admits Guo Jun, an official with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. He says the current draft doesn't require employers to provide part-time workers with a written contract and it lacks an effective mechanism to resolve the issue of too many short-term contracts.

Labor activists say the second draft marks an important strengthening of workers' rights, though it doesn't give them as much clout as originally proposed.

The relatively open process the labor law went through has raised hopes the government will consult more widely on other bills. However, most of at least a dozen other draft laws on the agenda this year won't be subject to extensive public comment.

"It's still a system of selective transparency," says James Zimmerman, a lawyer who is chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

Scholars say the government appears committed to at least maintaining the appearance of greater public involvement, though the rules don't require a public process in the drafting of laws.

Zheng Aiqing, a legal scholar at Renmin University in Beijing, says more technical laws are likely to be circulated for suggestions only among a smaller group of people outside the government, mainly academics. "For issues that ordinary people are less concerned about, I don't think this process will be used," she says.

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