Made-in-China Boosting Chinese Economy (Thank's To Americans)

The Peoples Daily (China) ^ | 10.18.02 | Li Heng

[Enemy Of The State]

Made-in-China Boosting Chinese Economy

People ever to the Three Gorges construction site should marvel at the grand size and magnificence of the project and be proud of the mark of "Made in China" engraved on many equipment units including the 70 MW hydraulic generator sets with world biggest unit capacity.

China's manufacturing industry, after the reform and opening up twenty years ago, has been developing rapidly with increased product catalogues and improved producing technology. "Made in China" has grabbed a rather advantageous position in international division of labor and the nation is transforming from a processing and assembling base of transnational corporations to a center of production.

Besides, China's manufacturing industry has become quite competitive in many trades, currently with the added value of equipment manufacturing taking the world fourth place, next only to the US, Japan and Germany.

Manufacturing industry refers to the 29 trades except for excavation and public (electricity, gas and water) which process and reprocess raw materials (excavation and agricultural products) and assemble parts.

From 1980 to 1998, China saw a yearly average of GDP growth at 9.94 percent, while that for the manufacturing industry registered at 12.65 percent for the same period. The total output of the industry had reached 3500 billion yuan by 2000 with its added value in GDP's proportion remained around 40 percent for many years. Half of China's national revenue came from the industry as it brought jobs to half of employed population in cities and half extra rural labors. Since the 1990s, industry products have taken over 80 percent in exportation and earned about 75 percent foreign exchange income for the nation.

Rising of the manufacturing industry was marked by "world first" output of over hundred types of important products such as iron and steel, cement and digital program control exchanges. In 1990, China's steel output only stood at 66 million tons, but which surpassed 150 million by 2001. Traditional products as color TV, washing machine, textile and containers all have become competitive and number of light industry products had developed from several thousand kinds to over 300,000 during the 9th Five-year Plan period (1996-2000).

Expanded quantity brings changes in quality. "Made in China" has developed from simple to hi-tech and sophisticated products. Twenty years ago almost all digital machine tools were imports from abroad but now China boasts 1300 types of its own make. The 30 MW generator and 60 MW sub-critical pressure generator, all designed and produced on our own, have been at world advanced level.

"Made in China" is now enriching itself in the country's opening up. Nearly 400 of world top 500 strong have invested over 2000 projects in China and world chief producers of telecommunication equipment, chemistry, automobile and machinery have all extended their production network to China. "Made in China" will enjoy a more and more important position in the world.

By PD Online Staff Li Heng
 

[mississippi red-neck]

Interesting. But most of the industrial investment dollars are flowing out of this country to oversea markets. Money is power. Jobs follow the money.

If a potential enemy controls the very necessities that you need to survive, whether at an individual, local, state, national, or international level, he is no longer a potential enemy, but a potential master.

Seems we have a lot of people in the world who don't like us. But they supply so many of the things we need to survive as a country, we have to be careful what we do about it.

The leaders of our country and industry better start investing more in their own home. If they don't it's not going to be, at best, a nice place to live in and raise their kids .

[spycatcher]

I agree we're being short sighted, especially when we're allowing all the legal and illegal foreign workers to swarm our country without proper immigration

[mississippi red-neck]

Yes, people are actually being paid MORE now than they were in the past, with good benefits no less. Unemployment is also still very low. There just aren't as many poor, desperate people who will work for low wages any more. It's just awful isn't it?

You must be lucky, dreaming or under thirty. There are a lot of young families working hard in this country that can barely feed themselves and make ends meet. The GMC pickup truck in my driveway I bought 12 years ago cost $12,064. The ones of the same model I'm looking at now go for $21,500.

I was making $19.30 hr. here in the south and with overtime that year made a little over $60,000 with a high school education. Most young married couples with kids in this area don't make that now with college and both working.

Do you think those workers in that GMC plant or the young people working in this country have almost doubled their salary and benefits in the last 12 years?

If it's so great why do both parents have to work out of the home just to get by. My wife didn't and neither did my mother.

Give thanks for your blessings. One little pink slip first thing in the morning, or one plant closing next week, or one corporation downsizing next month, or one dark spot on an X- ray and the good life is gone. There are some really good hard working people who just get a bad break.

I've found a good worker is a good worker no matter whether he bags groceries or builds bridges and a sorry one is sorry if he's picking peanuts or, like our last one, president of the country.

[mississippi red-neck]

Agreed. Sorry it took so long to reply. Darn arthritis. I'm retired now, but I was blessed with a good job most of my life and all I want is the same thing for our children and a good strong country for them to grow up in.

[RipSawyer]

You are dead on the money. I am driving a 1989 pickup that cost me 12,700 dollarts new and I would love to make half the money I was making then. All this talk about how great the economy is is making me dizzy. All I can see are people out of work, no jobs open and those who are working trying to scrape by on 1980 wage levels. The few ads for jobs in the newspaper if they mention salary are pitifully paid and if you see one advertising a reasonably good wage it turns out to be a scam,(sell only two vacuum cleaners a day for ten times what they are worth and you can make $25.00 an hour is what they should say).

[Cacique]

the de-industrialization of America bump

[mississippi red-neck]

Thanks,you're right. There are a lot of us who have been in the job market for the last 45 years and who have seen it when a father in this area with a decent job could afford a nice three bedroom home, with good furniture and appliances, two cars one of them pretty new, and maybe a little fishing boat,or some other hobby or craft.They could even eat out a couple of times a month.

He could have three or four kids that he could feed cloth provide for their medical and dental care, provide for their education including college, give to church and charities, take the family on a few days vacation every summer and still have a little savings for emergencies and retirement. All of this was able to be done with just the father working and all he had was a high school education. None of it by the government.

Now the kids our age group had, are married with both parents working maybe one for $10 or $11 hr. and the other for $8 and very little insurance or benfits if any. It even looks worse for grandchildren. I not saying that there are not good paying jobs out there, but they are a hell of a lot less of them than they were.They started shipping them overseas in the 70's by the thousand and they haven't come back. They are still leaving, the good paying jobs that is not the people they're still here trying to work two $7 hr. jobs. I'd like eveybody out there in the 55-60 age bracket who are not having to help their 30 year old children get the food, clothing, medical and shelter they need to raise their hand.

The people have got to quit listening to these propagada politicans who keep getting on TV saying everthing is great and America's future is bright. It's their future the, The Red Tape Brigades, they're talking about, not you or yours.

[batter]

Cindy - Bump for defunding the PRC.
onedoug - Also look at the shoe's tongue label. Many common shoe manufactures (Nike etc.) produce certain shoe models in countries other than the PRC (such as Thailand). The label attached to the shoes tongue will indicate country of make.

FWIW, I recently noticed that Seneca (sp?) Apple Juice has concentrate made in China! Is this for real or are we now also getting screwed on food products?!
Evidently the PRC is using that WTO stuff to their advantage. I wonder how well their meeting their side of the WTO bargain...
If anyone cares, a good wrapup of China news can be found at: ChiCom Watch