iron rice bowl

noun

A guaranteed state job in China that lasts until retirement and pays a pension until death.

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Meanings

nouniron rice bowl (plural iron rice bowls)

plural iron rice bowls

  1. A guaranteed state job in China that lasts until retirement and pays a pension until death.

    Large or small, a state enterprise took care of all the needs of its workers and dependents, providing housing, schools, and health facilities at minimal cost - the so-called "iron rice bowl" which the economic mobilizers said now had to be 'smashed'.

    2006, John Gittings, “Economics in Command: The modernization of China”, in The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market

Origin

Calque from Chinese 鐵飯碗／铁饭碗 (tiěfànwǎn), from 鐵／铁 (tiě, “iron”) + 飯碗／饭碗 (fànwǎn, “rice bowl”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

iron rice bowl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iron%20rice%20bowl

MLA

“iron rice bowl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iron%20rice%20bowl. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “iron rice bowl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iron%20rice%20bowl.

Source: iron rice bowl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.