Exporters adjusting to rising wages

For years, the abiding view of China has been of a workshop powered by waves of young migrants able to out-compete workers elsewhere in the world because of their low wages. This image is becoming increasingly wide of the mark.

The wage of an average migrant worker in China has quadrupled in US dollar terms since China joined the World Trade Organization at the end of 2001. The average Chinese factory worker now earns more than twice as much as his or her counterpart in Indonesia or Vietnam.

Average wages are increasing at a double-digit pace even today, though the Chinese economy is on course to record the lowest annual GDP growth rate this century. If rapid wage growth continues - and former Communist Party of China general secretary Hu Jintao's recent pledge that people's income will double this decade suggests the Chinese government thinks it will - wages in China will soon surpass those in Mexico and start getting close to wages in Brazil.

Many people are worried about the strains the wage increases are putting on exporters, who are already struggling owing to sluggish global demand. There are signs that China's dominance in certain sectors is starting to slip. For example, its share of the world's textile market started declining recently.

But a closer look at the shifting patterns of trade suggests this is the result of a welcome move by enterprises into sectors where margins are higher rather than a failure to compete. In fact, China's share of overall global exports has continued to edge up, with Chinese companies becoming increasingly important players in more technically advanced industries.

There are three secrets to China's export success. First, by engaging in regional production chains, Chinese enterprises have been able step by step to absorb advanced technology and upgrade their skills. According to the World Bank, more than a quarter of China's manufactured exports are hi-tech, one of the highest proportions in the world. As a result, workers these days are far more productive than they were a few years ago, with their increased output helping make up for the higher wages they are paid.

We recommend:
Yangtze River Highway Bridge in Taizhou to open	Eastern Boom Lightens Western Gloom	Chinese firms 'potential Trojan horses'? slows
AVIC unveils new aircraft engines	China's MA700 to take flight in 2016	13th Int'l Automobile Industry Exhibition
China Int'l Industry Fair opens in Shanghai	Caofeidian coal wharf put into use	Galaxy Soho building in Beijing