Photo Essay: “My Hourly Wage”
As the Chinese economy continues to recover from the long pandemic (and post-pandemic) slowdown,...
wages
Quote of the Day: Official Disposable Income Figures Derided as “Today’s Daily Dose of Humor”
On March 16, China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced that the Chinese economy was off to a good start in 2024, with reported 5.3% year-on-year GDP growth in the first quarter of the year. The better-than-expected...
Recent Media Gaffes Say Quiet Parts Out Loud on Sensitive History and Current Anxiety
By inadvertently “saying the quiet part out loud,” three recent media gaffes have touched off public debate on questions usually left unspoken. For some Chinese social media users, these blunders have provided an opportunity to...
Riot Police Deployed as Hunan Teachers Protest
Laura Zhou at South China Morning Post reports that authorities in Hunan have summoned riot police...
Teachers’ Strikes Spread Across Northeast China
After thousands of teachers from Zhaodong, Heilongjiang Province went on strike last month to...
China’s Lopsided Labor Force
As China’s college enrollment rate continues to increase, short-term employment prospects for graduates look dim compared with those of their migrant worker counterparts, who dominate high-demand low-skill jobs with rising...
Migrant Workers’ Pay Growth Slows
The number of migrant workers in China reached 262.6 million in 2012, with 163.4 million working away from home for at least six months. These figures come from a new survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, which also...
China Manufacturers Move to Asian Neighbors
As workers’ wages in China increase, manufacturers are turning to countries like Vietnam for lower production costs, according to Kathy Chu at the Wall Street Journal: At Crocs, 65% of its colorful shoes are expected to be...
Urban Wages See Double-Digit Growth in 2011
The National Bureau of Statistics announced Tuesday that average wages for urban Chinese workers in both the private and non-private sectors rose by double digits in 2011, according to The China Daily: The data was based on a...
How to Beat Back the China Bears
At China Real Time Report, Tom Orlik arms “panda-loving” readers for battle against gloomy forecasters of bursting investment bubbles, real estate collapse, shadow banking catastrophe, dwindling workforces and...
China’s Changing Migration Patterns
This week’s Economist includes a map of interprovincial migration in China between 1990 and 2005. Central China—particularly Henan, Hunan, Anhui and Sichuan—saw millions leave for the coastal regions, with Zhejiang,...
Chinese Labor, Cheap No More
As Xi Jinping’s U.S. Visit came to an end, concerns remained over various issues in the bilateral relationship, such as the lack of enforcement of property rights. And China’s cheap labor, a mainstay of the U.S....
Strikes & Protests Surge in China
The Los Angeles Times’ Barbara Demick examines the continuing rise of “mass incidents” as a means to address specific grievances such as pollution and land seizures. These demonstrators have a narrow agenda and...
China's New Competitors
The Wall Street Journal’s Joseph Sternberg examines the erosion of China’s manufacturing supremacy due to rising transport and labour costs, and possible consequences of this shift: … [The] warning to Beijing...
China’s Factories Face Big, Labor-driven Changes
Caixin, via MarketWatch, reports on the troubles faced by China’s manufacturers as foreign importers are turning elsewhere for cheap labor: Manufacturers may have been especially spooked by a report released May 5 by the...
As Wages Rise in China, Manufacturers Look Elsewhere
Long the ubiquitous source of low-priced goods around the world, China is losing its appeal for foreign manufacturers. From the New York Times: Bruce Rockowitz, the chief executive of Li & Fung, the largest trading company...
The End of Cheap, as Chinese Labour Dries Up
The Financial Times’ beyondbrics blog suggests that rising wages in China could spell the end of the cheap, plentiful manufactured goods to which Western consumers (or overconsumers) have become accustomed. $11 for a pair...
Foxconn to Raise Wages Again at China Plant
Foxconn, the manufacturing giant which was the scene of 12 worker suicides this year, has announced it will raise worker wages by two-thirds. From Reuters: News agency Xinhua quoted company spokesman Liu Kun as saying the...
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