Thread by @zhao_dashuai

My dad's friend is a senior executive at a large pharmaceutical company in China.

During dinner yesterday, he said most of China's economic issues can be solved by more strict implementation of labor laws, AND raising employee benefits to blue collar workers.

Here's why:
1/9🧵

Currently, there's a mismatch between University graduate job seekers and labor market.

Blue collar positions cannot find enough workers, while university graduate cannot find jobs.

Part of it is down to mismatched skills, but people can learn on the job through apprenticeship

A lot of it is down to the lax labor laws and inadequate worker benefits.

Many Chinese industries have reached a point where they are not competing on labor cost anymore.

Chinese labor cost have risen consistently, and so has our share of the value added in global manufacturing

Better paid and protected blue collar jobs will attract more young job seekers.

With more money and more spare time, the problem of consumption can be solved, so will the issue of low marriage rate and birthrate.

If it were so simple, then why this hasn't happened yet?

The solution sound easy but hard to implement. The government must balance company profit with worker's benefit.

Skewed towards the company means less buying power from the population.

Skewed towards the workers means less profitable company, which may close all together.

This also varies between industries, not every industry in China is medium to high end.

To put it simply, Chinese high end industries have only gotten their foot in the door, and do not have enough market share for high dividend.

Anti-China propaganda likes to portray China's economic challenges in a mystical unknowing manner, this way, they can just claim the problems are unsolvable.

In reality, there are clear solutions.

It all goes back to having a robust high end manufacturing industry, supporting well paid blue collar workforce.

Which will then have a ripple effect on the service industries.

For example, car sales also support jobs in the car insurance industry.

This is why western propaganda is targeting the non-existent "overcapacity problem" in China.

Because our government is has a clear development path, through Belt and Road Initiative, it involves the Global South more than the imperial core.

Hence their indignation.