China experiences economic woe also

Written by Brandon Bishop

Monday, 09 February 2009 18:07

Over the last two months, I’ve seen a number of reports on China’s experience with the global economic crisis. Most of those reports don’t provide a clear picture of that experience. Having heard and seen a great deal on how the economic situation is affecting China, I’ve come to believe a look at three areas can provide a good idea as to China’s situation.

One of the biggest questions faces this year’s graduating college students.

The 9 percent and higher economic growth rates of the previous few years have largely been needed to offer enough jobs for the millions of college students that graduate each year.

As the growth rate has gone down, many students have begun to look into additional classes and qualifications to make themselves more attractive to employers. As one grad student I study with explained, she has found that a master’s degree will qualify her for the same jobs she could have applied for with only a bachelor’s degree when she graduated two years ago.

Similarly, one of my friends, who is a graduating senior, explained that while four years ago, when she graduated high school, majoring in English would have assured her a well-paying job in a company, employers will now only consider English majors who studied an additional foreign language.

Aside from affecting the prospects of college students entering China’s job market, the downturn in the economy has also impacted manufacturing in China.

The greatest impact has been on China’s export industries.

While industries more focused on China’s large domestic market have felt little impact from the global economic crisis, many factories that manufactured goods for export have been closed, greatly reduced their production or greatly reduced their work force.

At the same time, new factories and industrial centers have begun to appear further inland where local wages are much cheaper. The long-term effect of these two trends is still uncertain, however most analysts expect that it will cause a shift the country’s development.

While there has been some concern in China about industrial and commercial effects of the down turn, one of the biggest concerns has been China’s immense construction and development projects.

The past decades of high growth have created an immense number of jobs in China’s construction sector, providing jobs for the millions of migrant laborers that have come to the cities from the countryside.

As the economy has slowed, many in China fear that construction projects may begin to disappear, leaving huge numbers of these migrant workers without work. To confront this, the Chinese national government has drafted a plan to spend billions of dollars on construction throughout the country, focusing on increasing and improving roads and railroads, among other high-traffic public areas. It is hoped that this will simultaneously provide migrant laborers with jobs and raise the national standards of infrastructure.

As in other nations, the Chinese public remains uncertain as to their economic future; however they are more hopeful about that future than many others.

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