China’s meteoric rise as a world economic power has been slowed by the International Financial Crisis. In Dongguan, the sprawling town in southern China known as “the workshop of the world”, factories are closing and migrant workers are being laid off and sent back home to their villages. We travel 2500 kilometres by train to Sichuan, where the the effects of the crisis are already being felt.
DONGGUAN IS A SPRAWING METROPOLIS WITH FACTORIES AND HIGHRISES STRETCHING MORE THAN A HUNDRED KILOMETERES BEYOND THE HAZY HORIZON… WHAT WAS FARMLAND JUST A COUPLE OF DECADES HAS BECOME ONE OF CHINA’S BUSIEST CITIES. DONGGUAN IS THE WORKSHOP OF THE WORLD.
THE CITY’S FACTORIES WERE BUILT TO SATISFY THE WORLD’S APPETITE FOR CHEAP GOODS…BUT WHEN THE WORLD STOPS BUYING, DONGGUAN IS IN TROUBLE.
THE OWNER OF THIS WATCH FACTORY, LIANG WEIHAO SAYS TIMES ARE HARD: THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS IS TURNING BOOM INTO BUST.
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I have been in the watch business for forty years. This has been a listed company for almost thirty years. This is the most difficult time I’ve ever seen. The reduction in orders is very severe.
XIONG YUMIN WORKED AT ONE OF TWO THOUSAND FACTORIES WHICH HAVE CLOSE THEIR DOORS. HIS BOSS SAYS HE WANTS TO START UP
AGAIN WHEN THE ECONOMY PICKS UP…BUT XIONG YUMIN THINKS THAT’S AN EXCUSE TO AVOID MAKING REDUNDANCY PAYMENTS:
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According to the labor law, dismissed workers should get compensation, so they don’t actually fire us. They reduce our pay and keep us hanging on.
LOCAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS ARE LOBBYING HARD FOR MORE
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT. LIANG WEIHAO IS PRESIDENT OF AN ASSOCIATION OF COMPANIES WITH FOREIGN INVESTMENT. HE SAYS THE
CHINESE GOVERNMENT’S 500-BILLION DOLLAR BAIL-OUT PACKAGE WON’T HELP COMPANIES LIKE HIS:
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The Chinese government has set up a four thousand billion yuan program to help companies and revive the economy, but I don’t think this will reach small and medium enterprises.
THIS SHOPPING STREET WOULD NORMALLY BE CRAMMED WITH MIGRANT WORKERS BUYING NEW CLOTHES TO TAKE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAY. BUT MANY FACTORIES HAVE CLOSED, AND MANY WORKERS HAVE ALREADY GONE HOME. LOCAL BUSINESSES WITH NO CUSTOMERS ARE FACING RUIN. ZHU XIAO DAN SAYS SHE DOESN’T KNOW HOW THE SHOP’S OWNER WILL MANAGE…BUTSHE KNOWS SHE’LL SOON BE LOOKING FOR A JOB …
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I won’t be working here any more. Someone like me can
go anywhere to look for another job, but it’s hard for the boss move.
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THE MANICURED GARDENS OF CITY HALL ARE A SYMBOL OF JUST HOW FAR DONGGUAN HAS COME. THE BAD ECONOMIC STATISTICS HAVE BEEN EXAGGERATED SAYS DEPUTY MAYOR JIANG LING: THE CITY WILL WEATHER THE STORM BECAUSE IT COMBINES TWO GREAT ADVANTAGES
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The first advantage is that we attract the world’s rich people to invest in Dongguan, the second is that we attract relatively poor people from inland provinces to work here.
ZHEN SHU HAO SELLS BANANAS OUTSIDE A FACTORY WHICH HAS SHUT DOWN. HE SAYS THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS HAS NOT BEEN EXAGGERATED…AND HE HAS A STATISTIC TO PROVE IT:
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Business is down by half. I used to sell a one cartload of bananas a day,
now I only sell half a cartload.
IT’S THE SAME STORY AT THE HAIRDRESSER’S ACROSS THE STREET. BUSINESS IS DOWN BY FIFTY PERCENT. ZHANG LIN XI IS GIVING A FRIEND A FREE CUT AND BLOW DRY WHILE WAITING FOR A PAYING CUSTOMER TO STOP BY.
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Before I would see ten to twenty clients every day…now there are just a handful.
THE RAILWAY STATION IS THE BUSIEST PLACE IN TOWN…BUT EVEN WITH THIS MANY TRAVELLERS, THIS YEAR THE ANNUAL EXODUS OF MIGRANT WORKERS HEADING HOME FOR THE NEW YEAR HOLIDAY IS SMALLER THAN USUAL. MILLIONS OF WORKERS HAVE ALREADY GONE HOME AFTER LOSING THEIR JOBS.
STOCKING UP WITH LAST-MINUTE SNACKS FOR 2500- KILOMETRE RIDE TO SICHUAN PROVINCE, ZHOU ZEBING GETS ON BOARD JUST IN TIME:
ZHOU AND HIS NIECE LIU TING BOTH WORK AT THE SAME TEXTILE FACTORY IN DONGGUAN…ONE THAT HASN’T CLOSED.
HE SEES HIS OWN LIFE AS AN EXAMPLE OF ALL THAT CHINA HAS ACHIEVED IN THE DECADES OF ECONOMIC REFORM….
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I’m a peasant, although I don’t look like it now. I left the countryside to come to Guangzhou 1990, more than 18 years ago.
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN REBUILDING CHINA FROM SCRATCH… CHEAP LABOUR FROM THE PROVINCES WHO FLOODED INTO THE CONSTUCTION SITES AND PRODUCTION LINES OF THE CITIES TO
TURN A COMMUNIST BASKET CASE INTO THE WORLD’S THIRD LARGEST ECONOMY.
AT CHINESE NEW YEAR THEY RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. AN ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE IS THE BIGGEST MIGRATION OF PEOPLE IN HISTORY.
P.T.C.: THE TWO AND A HALF MILLION WORKERS WHO’VE TAKEN THE LONG RIDE HOME FROM GUANGDONG PROVINCE OVER THE PAST TWO OR THREE OR THREE MONTHS REPRESENT JUST A SMALL FRACTION OF THE ESTIMATED TWO HUNDRED MILLION PEASANTS WHO HAVE TRAVELLED IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TO FIND WORK IN THE CITIES OVER THE THIRTY YEARS OF CHINA’S ECONOMIC BOOM. THIS IS A SETBACK BUT ITS ONE THAT CHINA CAN HANDLE…A WORLD WIDE RECESSION MIGHT MAKE THINGS MUCH WORSE
ALMOST HOME. IT HAS TAKEN THIRTY HOURS TO TRAVEL FROM A CITY AT THE FOREFRONT OF CHINA’S ECONOMIC BOOM TO A PART OF CHINA THAT STILL HAS A LOT OF CATCHING UP TO DO. X THE POVERTY
OF CHINA’S HINTERLAND IS WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SET OUT ON THE HARD ROAD OF THE MIGRANT WORKER.
WHILE ZHOU IS IN DONGGUAN WORKING, HIS WIFE STAYS HOME IN SICHUAN WITH THE CHILDREN. SHE COOKS FOR HER HUSBAND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A YEAR … .
IT’S FOUR IN THE MORNING…LATE DINNER OR EARLY BREAKFAST…IT’S THE FIRST OF THE MANY FAMILY MEALS WHICH ARE THE MAIN EVENT OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON.
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Essentially, everyone who is under 50 leaves here to find work. Remote areas like this aren’t suitable for foreign investment, so everyone goes away to work
A FEW HOURS LATER, ZHOU GOES TO VISIT HIS FATHER IN THE HOUSE WHERE HE GREW UP. THIS IS ABOUT AS FAR AWAY FROM WALL STREET AS YOU CAN GET, BUT THE FINANCIAL CRISIS TOUCHES EVERYONE:
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All my sons went away to work to pay for their childrens’ education. If the Communist Party didn’t allow this, how could we pay school fees? Two of my grandchildren are at university.
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IT’S THE TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT FAMILY AND FRIENDS…AND CATCH UP ON THE NEWS THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IS ON EVERYONE’S MIND. LOCAL PEOPLE DEPEND ON MONEY FROM FAMILY MEMBERS WHO GO TO WORK IN THE CITY. FANG ZHENRONG IS HEAD OF A LOCAL VILLAGE.
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If this financial crisis continues, or gets worse, it will put a lot more pressure on ordinary people.
DA GONG-- LEAVING FOR WORK IN THE CITY—HAS
BECOME A WAY OF LIFE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE… A WAY OF LIFE THAT
SUDDENLY SEEMS MORE PRECARIOUS. LIU CHENG IS NOT GOING BACK TO HIS JOB BECAUSE HIS INCOME SUDDENLY DROPPED IN NOVEMBER
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In October we were still very busy then all of a sudden in November two of the company’s factories closed…
BUT LIU TING –ZHOU ZEBING’S NIECE – SAYS MOST YOUNG PEOPLE WHO’VE LOST JOBS WILL GO BACK TO LOOK FOR NEW ONES:
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They’ll go back because at our age there is nothing to do at home We have to go….there’s no other way to build up savings.
ACROSS CHINA TOWNS AND VILLAGES ARE ALREADY FEELING THE PINCH OF THE ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN… OUT EARLY ON A MISTY MORNING THESE YOUNG MEN HOPE TO MAKE A FEW YUAN DRIVING MOTORCYCLE TAXIS AFTER LOSING THEIR FACTORY JOBS
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The financial crisis has closed lots of factories.
AFTER BECOMING USED TO STEADY IMPROVEMENTS IN LIVING STANDARDS YEAR AFTER YEAR… CHINA IS FACING A CLIMATE OF UNCERTAINTY AS CHILLY AS THE BITTER COLD MORNINGS OF A SICHUAN WINTER. PATRICK BROWN IN SICHUAN PROVINCE.