I hope Manpower’s Jeffrey Joerres is a man of his word. Because he’s got power when it comes to China’s workers and labor market.

Joerres, CEO of the Milwaukee-based staffing giant, just told Workforce Management’s Gina Ruiz that his company would stick to high employment standards as it becomes China’s first foreign temporary staffing firm.

“I wouldn’t place anybody in a situation where I wouldn’t want to be in,” Joerres says.

On October 10, Manpower announced that it had gained government approval to become the first non-Chinese temporary staffing agency.

Although China’s capitalistic push over the past three decades has created great wealth in the country, it also has come with widespread labor abuses. Many of these are associated with small factories, which often supply items to major Western corporations in areas such as electronics, apparel and toys.

Even though Western businesses have stepped up efforts to enforce decent labor practices, abuses have continued. Last year, BusinessWeek showed how factories have gotten better at concealing problems, with the help of a new type of consultant that helps plants evade audits.

It strikes me that if Western firms were really serious about curbing abuses in China, they would stop tapping these questionably run suppliers and get more involved—either through joint ventures or by owning their factories outright.

Of course, reining in the outsourcing probably means higher costs and less flexibility. Companies typically hate both of those results.

That’s what makes Manpower’s China news intriguing. Manpower gives organizations—Western or Chinese—the option of outsourcing some of their workforce needs. Manpower’s offer promises companies not only flexibility, but expertise in assessing worker skills for optimal performance.

At the same time, Manpower could be a force against labor abuses. Multinational firms may choose Manpower over a shady domestic supplier to safeguard their reputations. In turn, domestic staffing firms seeking to compete with Manpower could set a higher bar for their labor practices.

Of course, this potential for a virtuous circle turns on the integrity of Joerres and his company.

Joerres told Ruiz that Manpower may turn down business if employers won’t adopt higher standards.

“We understand that our way of doing business is not going to appeal to everybody,” he says. “That’s just part of the territory and we accept it.”

I wish Joerres the best. And I look forward to seeing if he lives up to his promise.