LECTURE 8: The Manufacturing Sector (China)

Foreign Investment, The State and Labour in ChinaEconomic development in China – key trends Deng Xiaoping’s market-orientated reforms (1979+)‘Open door’ policies Special economic zones (SEZs) Share of world FDI stock: 1% in 19806% in 2002 Mainstream views on China’s economic development – China as ‘threat’? China’s rise as ‘threat’ to status quo in international economic relations China as ‘workshop of the world’‘weapons of mass production’ Government support to domestic firms in ‘going global’ High-tech exports and R&D Barriers to upgrading domestic maufacturing firms What is ‘Chinese’ about manufacturing in China? ‘China’ as a coherent economic whole? ‘Domestic’ firms internationally non-competitive in advanced manufactures‘global business revolution’ of the 1990s Trade protection is less of an option since joining WTO in 2001 

Uneven development, wages and labour activism in China Poverty has declined, while inequality has increased... and economic development is geographically highly uneven Urban wages have grown in recent years.. but ‘catch-up’ on a per capita basis is still limited compared to other newly industrialised East Asian economies Chinese manufacturing workers are heavily exploited, especially rural migrant workers....the case of Foxconn Growth of labour activism ‘bullwhip effect’?Chinese workers are increasingly challenging the model of low wages and poor working conditions Summary China is the workshop of the contemporary world But in whose interests? How sustainable is its position? Will domestic firms be able to compete internationally? Is China an example of ‘uneven development’? 

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