China minimum wage up by 21.7% despite economic cooling

wotsthat

My take on this would be that the Chinese government are trying to keep the population sweet to avoid any social unrest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15456509

Surprised to read that the minimum hourly wage in Beijing is $2 - I thought it would be lower.

kabayiri

One day robots will be cheaper than any Chinese; Indian; European or Vietnamese worker.

Then where will we be ?

Here's a clue. It won't be the "promised land for all" envisaged by those commentators in the 1960s; you know - the same ones who told us gas would be so plentiful it would be practically free

Thrugelmir

wotsthat wrote: »

Surprised to read that the minimum daily wage in Beijing is $2 - I thought it would be lower.

Puts Western wage levels into perspective.

michaels

Avoiding social unrest? - or an attempt at rebalancing the economy towards domestic consumption as relying on the US and Europeans to buy their output on credit does not look like a credible long run strategy?

FTBFun

kabayiri wrote: »

One day robots will be cheaper than any Chinese; Indian; European or Vietnamese worker.

Then where will we be ?

Here's a clue. It won't be the "promised land for all" envisaged by those commentators in the 1960s; you know - the same ones who told us gas would be so plentiful it would be practically free

In trouble:

JonnyBravo

wotsthat wrote: »

Surprised to read that the minimum daily wage in Beijing is $2 - I thought it would be lower.

An hour. The article say $2/hr

2sides2everystory

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Puts Western wage levels into perspective.

In what respect ?

I think you will find that apart from a few global-branded products such as iphone 4 and starbucks latte it is all relative.

For example you can travel right across Beijing on an underground system that is better than most for 2 Yuan I think which is about 20p.

You can grab a chilled fanta equivalent bottled drink from most local stores and newstands in central Beijing for about the same.

You can eat out for peanuts.

If you go to Starbucks you will pay the same price as in London. Answer? Stay out of Starbucks - it's a pure novelty.

If you go to a real Apple Store then you will pay the same price for an iphone as anywhere on the globe. Answer - if you are not an accomplished global warrior yet? Don't buy - it's a novelty - and if you really must have one as fashion accessory then go to the market and buy a good fake :rotfl:

If you want to live in a London Docklands lookalike penthouse (actually Beijing offers much more and higher) then expect to pay a globalised premium. Answer? Don't be daft - you can't afford it yet ! So live in a normal district and enjoy the infrastructure improvements that your government is making to improve your life beyond the wildest dreams you had 10 years ago.

If you want to be seen shopping in western style shopping malls with the same brands you will find in Westfield Stratford then fine - pay through your nose for the novelty value again. Otherwise haggle in the thousands of serious purpose built multi-floor markets and learn the true value of 'things', many with designer labels.

If you believe in the intellectual property game then your life will cost more, wherever you live it.

If you believe in simple trading and simple living then in Beijing, two dollars an hour is probably at least as good as £6 an hour in London - probably better.

Want a MacDonalds ? Well we all do sometimes - I forget the price but I am sure it can be looked up on the Big Mac index.

Go to Norway, Switzerland, Denmark and things take on a slightly different perspective but some of the relativisms do very much define a country's values and will be used to harness their culture. E.g. in Denmark which has a high standard of living and where the effective minimum wage is perhaps double ours, you will not see streets full of flash cars because they cost twice as much as in the UK due to the harnessing effect of a fierce car purchase tax.

Go to Beijing however, and you will see lots of ordinary workers riding smart electric powered motorcycles and smaller family rickshaw type vehicles (almost no petrol engined ones now - the government paid for conversions and replacements I think) and you will see streets full of smart older model but recently manufactured German cars (the Germans seem to have cleverly licensed their 10 year old technology to China) and Chinese versions.

I didn't see how much they pay for the fuel and I don't know what Beijing charges its citizens per kWh to charge their batteries, but I bet it sits reasonably with the wage levels.

And for those who think China is playing catch-up and that their economy is inherently unstable - think again. They have already caught up. They have invested enormously in infrastructure and it is already there, being used and relied upon for living lives not so different to our own. They are even putting infrastructure in space now with their spare dollars - might as well spend them before they become so much paper.

wotsthat

michaels wrote: »

Avoiding social unrest? - or an attempt at rebalancing the economy towards domestic consumption as relying on the US and Europeans to buy their output on credit does not look like a credible long run strategy?

Probably both. The Chinese government can't have failed to notice that some autocratic governments have been having a few problems lately.

kabayiri

2sides2everystory wrote: »

...
You can eat out for peanuts.
...

Once I manage to retrain monkey butlers to do a wider range of roles, wages really will be peanuts

ninky_2

wotsthat wrote: »

Probably both. The Chinese government can't have failed to notice that some autocratic governments have been having a few problems lately.

those problems have little to do with the fact they are autocratic regimes and everything to do with international interference due to oil / territorial interests.

china is not facing the same issues at all. manufacturing wages in particular have soared in china. 40 percent rise from 2002 to 2006 i believe and increases are continuing. this pre-dates the current economic / political climate.

wotsthat

JonnyBravo wrote: »

An hour. The article say $2/hr

Thanks. Corrected in OP.

I'm even more surprised than I was when I thought it was as much as $2 / day.