The big layoff in China - 1.8 million coal and steel workers
The big layoff in China
By Steve LeVine November 22, 2017
By the end of the year, some 1.8 million Chinese coal and
steel workers will lose their jobs, victims of the government's shift to
cleaner industries and a shutdown of small enterprises. To put that in
perspective, the two industries employ just 192,000 workers in the U.S.
Why it matters: Ordinarily, China's leadership is most
focused on social stability. The party always looks to avoid any outbreak of
discontent that could threaten political calm. But now, the priority has
shifted to producing higher-value, branded products sold internationally, and
owning the future economy of electric and self-driving cars, advanced
batteries, robotics and automation equipment.
That's why many of those coal and steel workers are
receiving generous long-term payoffs. In one example, per the FT's Emily Feng,
workers in Ma'anshan received early retirement worth $600 a month for 35 years.
Bill Bishop, author of the Axios China newsletter, tells
me that the turn is "all about re-orienting the bureaucracy to focus on
greener, more balanced and sustainable development." He says it seemed to
gain momentum after the 19th Communist Party Congress in October. The signal
was a "very important change to one of its key guiding concepts," he
said.
Bill's thought bubble: "The Party has changed the
'principal contradiction' that the Marxists in China believe defines society.
Since 1981, near the start of the reform and opening era, the principal
contradiction had been 'the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the
people versus backward social production,' which effectively justified growth
at all costs. For the Xi era, that contradiction is now 'between unbalanced and
inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life.'
This puts much greater emphasis on the quality of how ordinary Chinese
live."
He concludes: "It will be painful, it may fail, and
it does not mean that China won't be exporting pollution and polluting
industries while at the same time trying to clean up its own country."
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