NANTONG, Jiangsu -The number of overseas-labor disputes involving workers from Nantong, in East China's Jiangsu province, have dropped by 40 percent since 2008, when an illegal labor export scandal occurred in Romania involving 83 Nantong workers, a senior local police officer has said.

In 2010, a total of 145 labor dispute cases involving 1,100 people were filed in court in the city, a decline of 40 percent compared with 2008, said Qin Jianping, head of the Nantong city public security bureau.

"Most of the cases were about contract disputes or compensation - because the workers didn't receive sufficient training, which led to injuries or deaths," he told China Daily.

"Meanwhile, some contracts fell through because of sudden changes affecting the international labor market, like the outbreak of war or economic crisis, leading to the disputes between the workers and the labor service companies."

However, some illegal labor agencies flourish by promising jobs, and the workers' legal rights cannot be guaranteed, according to Qin.

Nantong is a major center for exporting workers abroad, with an average of 20,000 going abroad each year, accounting for 10 percent of Chinese workers abroad.

Most are sent to Japan, Singapore, the United States and Canada, Russia and South Africa to work in the construction, textile, electronics and oil exploration industries.

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In February 2009, the largest labor export case in China was heard in a Nantong court, and the 83 duped local workers involved received 8 million yuan ($1.2 million) as compensation.

In 2008, 83 Nantong workers and another 3,000 workers from Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, were lured to Romania to work in construction by three Beijing agencies.

The agencies charged them 83,000 yuan each for a deposit and visa fee, and promised they could work for three to five years in Romania and be paid 72 euros ($101) daily.

But the living conditions there were very poor and they worked up to 11 hours a day. After only three months, they were told their visas had expired. The employer refused to pay them anymore.

They asked for help from the Chinese embassy in Romania and were rescued by Chinese police in February 2009.

"We have increased our efforts to crack down on illegal labor agencies, and anyone running such agencies will face criminal charges," Qin said.

Illegal agencies and subcontractors are the two major reasons for the frequent labor disputes abroad, according to He Li, a lawyer with the Yingke Law Firm in Beijing.

"The illegal agencies sometimes haven't signed formal contracts with the workers, who are cheated by only receiving a tourist visa or temporary resident's visa, but not a work visa," He said.

"What's more, the laborers themselves have little awareness of how to protect their rights," He added.