Chinese Labour Stats

[Mikhail Liebenstein]

This is an interesting table, and I'd be keen to see if there is a more recent version: http://www.allcountr..._staff_and.html

Anyway it clearly shows a 15-30 fold increase in Wages between 1978 and 2002.

It would be great to get some more upto date stats. But overall it looks like the whole "China" thing (ie offshroing etc) will be over within a year or two.

Here is later article from 2006:http://www.businessw...13/b3977049.htm

And more recently we have had the next of 40% rises from Foxconn and the news that the Chinese Minimum Wage is being increased: http://www.chinadail...nt_10053553.htm

It does seem clear that there is a new global trend at play:http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-07/02/content_10053553.htm

Edited July 11, 2010 by Mikhail Liebenstein

[alexw]

This is an interesting table, and I'd be keen to see if there is a more recent version: http://www.allcountr..._staff_and.html

Anyway it clearly shows a 15-30 fold increase in Wages between 1978 and 2002.

It would be great to get some more upto date stats. But overall it looks like the whole "China" thing (ie offshroing etc) will be over within a year or two.

Here is later article from 2006:http://www.businessw...13/b3977049.htm

And more recently we have had the next of 40% rises from Foxconn and the news that the Chinese Minimum Wage is being increased: http://www.chinadail...nt_10053553.htm

It does seem clear that there is a new global trend at play:http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-07/02/content_10053553.htm

1 pound = approx 10 yuan

av salary posted in that 2010 article = 2100 yuan = 210 pounds (per year).

Yes i'm sure offshoring will be over soon and we'll be competitive in terms of wages with china. We only need wages in china to increase 100 fold.

Edited July 11, 2010 by alexw

[ken_ichikawa]

Not quite the problem is also regulations as well as wages, in China you murder your employees use unsafe business practices as long as the bribes to the CCP are paid you don't need to worry.

Not to mention the massive infrasturture designed to aid exports and the fact that people in China are used to working 18 hour days, in Japan and Korea people are worked to death and never complain, while more than 70 hours a week in the UK we complain.

[blobloblob]

China knows where it's going, hence all their investment in central and sourthern Africa. It's not all about securing copper and iron, there's damned cheap labour to be had in Africa too.

[Executive Sadman]

China knows where it's going, hence all their investment in central and sourthern Africa. It's not all about securing copper and iron, there's damned cheap labour to be had in Africa too.

I used to think that but surely africa has non existant infrastructure and an largely uneducated illiterate workforce. Surely its just better to loot and pillage?

[blobloblob]

I used to think that but surely africa has non existant infrastructure and an largely uneducated illiterate workforce. Surely its just better to loot and pillage?

They're investing in African education too, and certainly building roads, power stations and so on. Trouble is, eventually Africa's workers will demand better pay and conditions thus pricing themselves out of manufacturing. On the positive side, by the time that happens, wages will be so low in Britain, we'll get all our manufacturing jobs back!

[ken_ichikawa]

I used to think that but surely africa has non existant infrastructure and an largely uneducated illiterate workforce. Surely its just better to loot and pillage?

Nope Chinese work gangs are EVERYWHERE in Central Asia and Africa, they send people over as part of the deal in lending money or rights to resources.... most adventure riders are pretty surprised there is a west coast road from Morroco all the way down to Angola built buy guess who?

China and Kazakhstan for instance, from 1991-2005 it was just a rocky steppe with non maintained roads. Chinese engineers connected the country up with new tarmac roads to Russia to Aralsask and Aktau, most adventure riders were very surprised.

Hell before China was admitted to the WTO there were masses of Chinese owned factories in Africa, there were news reports in both UK and Chinese media about how cities overnight became ghost towns once China had acceptance and quotas lifted as the business people went to open up factories in China instead.

[ken_ichikawa]

wages will be so low in Britain, we'll get all our manufacturing jobs back!

Nah we'll still be attempting to squeeze blood out of stones by introducing a 400% income tax and 452% corporation tax rate.

The tories will say this will hurt the economy and jobs while Neo Labour will bang on about social justice etc etc.