China is as much a communist state, as the US is a democracy... I think that probably describes it best.
I've never been to china but the impression I have gotten is that it is basically a class system where those on the bottom have no power whatsoever.
This means that the Chinese government have no incentive to improve working conditions as they don't have any votes to win, workers can simply be used to "churn" which seems to be working well for boosting their economy right now.
This may be rather naive. Similar conditions in Western factories didn't really go away until after World War 2; in the case of exposure to known-dangerous substances, not til the 60s or 70s. Some of the countries involved were democratic in the early 20th century; certainly the UK and arguably the US (I say 'arguably' because the US excluded a substantial part of its population from the franchise at the time). Certainly, government did something; the effective banning of factory towns (through banning scrip and mandatory rental), in particular, was very important. It was mostly down to the labour unions, though.
> This means that the Chinese government have no incentive to improve working conditions as they don't have any votes to win
When has improving working conditions _ever_ been a vote winner for a major party, anywhere? Historically, it has almost always been done due to union pressure.
I was never a user of Blackberry smartphones, but I will be from now on because I refuse to support inhumane and cruel working conditions with my money.