With China's economic downturn and the United States imposing high tariffs on Chinese products, cases of wage arrears, employees demanding wages and striking for their rights have frequently appeared on social media platforms in various parts of China.
The social media platform X and the YouTube account "Yesterday" recently uploaded numerous reports of rights protection protests from various regions. This included a strike on April 24th by hundreds of workers at Guangxin Sporting Goods Co., Ltd. in Dao County, Hunan Province, protesting the company's factory closure without compensation. Guangxin primarily produces golf bags, protective gear, gloves, bags, and related accessories and materials.
Some employees reported that the company had failed to pay social security in accordance with the law for a long time, and after September 2024, it dismissed female employees over 50 years old on the grounds of "reaching retirement age" without paying financial compensation or assisting in retirement procedures. More than 100 people were involved.
When our reporter called Guangxin, a male employee hung up the phone upon hearing the word "reporter." We continued to contact the Dao County Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Labor and Social Security Supervision Department, and other relevant departments, but received only the response that they should contact Guangxin directly. They also confirmed that "Guangxin still has dozens of employees operating."
Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia are all reported to have delayed wages.
"Strike, strike!" Another strike occurred at Shangda Electronics, a leading Chinese manufacturer of flexible printed circuit boards (FPCs). On April 27th, workers at Shangda's Suining, Sichuan, factory went on strike to protest the company's long-standing wage and social security arrears. According to workers, the company hasn't paid wages since the beginning of this year, and hasn't paid social security since June 2023. Furthermore, this wasn't the first time Shangda Electronics had experienced wage arrears. As of that evening, employees still hadn't received their wages.
As early as May last year, the self-media "Read and Listen to the World" from Sichuan disclosed that Shangda had never fulfilled its promise to pay wages on time, and that there had been a long-term problem of wage arrears, which many employees were dissatisfied with.
"We want money, we want money. We've been doing this for dozens of days and are asking for money at the police station! These migrant workers are all here to ask for money!" There were also reports of wage arrears at the reinforcement and renovation project of the 2077 Cyber City project at the Jiefangbei Land King Square in Chongqing. From April 26 to 27, the construction site was in turmoil, and several workers went to the construction site and the local police station for two consecutive days to demand their wages.
Additionally, on April 28th, more than a dozen migrant workers in Shaanxi province gathered at a project site in Tuanjie Village, Xi'an, to demand their wages. Employees said they hadn't received their wages since February. "These are workers, and these are big bosses. What's going on in China right now?"
On the other hand, on April 25, several construction workers gathered on the roof of a building in Jincan Royal Garden Community, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, and tried to demand their wages by "jumping off the building."
X, which records these events, and the YOUTUBE channel "Yesterday", founded by Lu Yuyu of Non-News, continue to record various mass incidents occurring in China.
China's business environment worsens, leaving business owners worried about how to pay salaries
These wage arrears protests reflect the current crisis facing some Chinese businesses. Ji Feng, a leader of the 1989 student movement, told this station that he recently left his hometown of Guizhou for Beijing and met many business owners along the way who lamented the difficulty of doing business, saying they were barely making any money and running out of cash, feeling helpless. Some even said they would rather go to jail than do anything about it.
"Once wages are in arrears, workers will go to government departments to protest. As long as protests occur, companies have to find ways to borrow money to pay salaries. For example, if wages are overdue for three months, they must be paid monthly even if they need to borrow money. If they cannot pay on time, the government may arrest people," said Ji Feng.
Tariff trade war may exacerbate China's job deterioration
Ji Feng further pointed out that the challenging employment environment didn't worsen only after the US-China tariff war. In fact, it began even before the pandemic ended. When the pandemic ended, officials optimistically anticipated a retaliatory rebound. However, "industry players didn't get to see that rebound, only to be met with retaliatory tariffs."
Wu Se-chi, an advisory member of a Taiwanese think tank and director of the Center for Chinese Studies, told RT-TV that while China's economy has maintained growth since the pandemic, the pace of growth has slowed significantly, consumer demand has been sluggish, the employment situation has deteriorated, and problems have emerged one after another. Recent official employment data from China shows that the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, with a particular focus on youth unemployment.
"The employment crisis reflects the deep downturn in China's economy, unable to rebound. Following the pandemic, both domestic and foreign investment have shrunk, marking a return to the past prosperity. Internally, the impact of the pandemic, coupled with the tightening of internal controls, security requirements, and market regulation since Chinese leader Xi Jinping's third term, has further dampened economic vitality," said Wu Sezhi. Growing international distrust of China, coupled with the high tariffs promoted by US President Trump, has exacerbated China's overall economic situation. Massive capital outflows, coupled with the withdrawal of foreign investment, have led to a shortage of jobs. Furthermore, China's manufacturing industry faces overcapacity, and poor business operations are unable to pay employees, leading to wage arrears and even forced layoffs.
Unemployment remains high, and with graduation season approaching, China faces a serious challenge in stabilizing employment.
Bloomberg quoted a Goldman Sachs report that the United States' imposition of a 145% tariff on Chinese imports may cut off Chinese products' access to the US market and affect the jobs of up to 20 million people (about 3% of China's workforce).
On the 28th, China's State Council announced five major measures to stabilize employment and the economy, with "supporting employment" at the top of the list. These measures include encouraging businesses to actively stabilize employment, increasing vocational skills training, expanding support for work-for-relief programs, and strengthening public employment services.
"It was always stable, and now it's stable, but it can't be stable anymore," Ji Feng lamented. He had been back home in Guizhou for 50 days when his younger brother, who was employed in Fujian, also returned home due to unemployment. He said his younger brother worked as a chef in Fujian, earning 7,000 to 8,000 yuan a month. After returning home, he couldn't find a job paying even 3,000 yuan. "Because the catering industry in Fujian is also declining, bosses can't make ends meet and can't afford to spend so much money on a chef. My younger brother has been back home for two years and still hasn't found a job."
Wu Sezhi emphasized that if the US-China trade war continues to escalate in the long term, the situation is unlikely to ease. Goldman Sachs estimates that China could face a wave of layoffs of up to 20 million people. Furthermore, with the arrival of university graduation season in June, approximately 12 million new graduates will enter the job market. The combined pressure of layoffs and the surge in job seekers will exacerbate the unemployment problem.
Regarding China's renewed emphasis on "stabilizing employment," Wu Sezhi noted that as early as Premier Li Keqiang's tenure as Premier, he had already prioritized "stabilizing employment" under the so-called "Six Stability" policy. Since then, the problem has remained fundamentally unresolved, and the continued accumulation of new labor force spurs increasing employment pressure in China.
He believes that unless China undergoes a large-scale and earth-shaking transformation of its national development path, the existing economic and social problems may be difficult to reverse, but this will bring a certain degree of risk, making the possibility even lower.
